Richard J. Birns is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.  He is Co-Chair of the Sports Law Practice Group and a member of the Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice Groups.

Mr. Birns focuses his practice on U.S. and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and financings for both corporations and leading private equity firms.  He also advises private investment funds on a variety of corporate issues, including securities law and shareholder activism matters.  Mr. Birns has extensive experience advising clients on significant transactional matters across a number of practice areas and industry sectors, with significant depth in media, sports and entertainment.

Mr. Birns regularly serves as a personal advisor to owners of sports franchises and sports industry leaders on “bet the company” matters.

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, where he played varsity soccer, 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 Co-Chair of the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s New York Leadership Council.