Richard J. Birns is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Private Equity Practice Group.  Mr. Birns also serves as Co-Chair of the Gibson Dunn’s Sports Law Practice Group.

Mr. Birns focuses his practice on a wide range of merger and acquisition-related matters, including domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, carve-outs, and joint ventures for both corporations and leading private equity firms.  He also handles related corporate governance and takeover work.

Mr. Birns has extensive experience advising clients on significant transactional matters across a number of practice areas and industry sectors, with significant depth in technology, media, sports and entertainment.  He regularly serves as a personal advisor to owners of sports franchises and sports industry leaders on “bet the company” matters.

Mr. Birns is ranked as a leading Sports Law lawyer by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Mr. Birns In 2019, Law360 named Mr. Birns one of five “MVPs” in Private Equity.  He is also recognized as a leading sports lawyer by The International Financial Law Review.

Mr. Birns graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History from Georgetown University and earned his Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and a member of the Columbia Law Review.  From 1997 to 1998, he clerked for Judge Milton Pollack of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Mr. Birns is active in various nonprofit organizations and serves as the Co-Chair of the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s New York Leadership Council.