Rich is a native of Florida and graduated from the Florida State University College of Business with a Bachelors Degree in Finance. Rich graduated from the Florida State University College of Law with Honors in 1993.
Following graduation from the Florida State University College of Law, Rich joined a Tallahassee law firm which specialized in business regulatory and litigation matters. In this capacity, he handled litigation matters between large corporations in both state and federal courts, representing industry before various state regulatory bodies, as well as assisted clients in the area of transactions involving the buying and selling of businesses, shareholder agreements, vendor agreements, and employment agreements.
In 2000, Rich joined Bass Sox Mercer as a shareholder. Since that time, he assumed the role of Managing Partner and has focused solely on motor vehicle franchise law. In this capacity, he provides counsel to dealers regarding their rights and obligations as related to the manufacturer issues including incentive programs, facility programs, franchise terminations, performance issues, succession planning, unfair vehicle allocation and transfer turn-downs. In addition to overseeing the motor vehicle dealer franchise litigation area of the practice, Rich leads BSM’s work with state and metro dealer associations including assisting with updating motor vehicle franchise protections.
Most recently, Rich undertook the lead role in obtaining a $1.2 billion diesel-gate settlement against Volkswagen of America on behalf of all Volkswagen dealers in the United States. The Firm has previously represented hundreds of General Motors and Chrysler dealers following the attempted bankruptcy terminations of their franchises and, most recently, is representing Ford dealers and their dealer associations in litigation challenging Ford’s EV Program.
Rich speaks before various dealer associations and groups concerning issues important to our dealer clients as well as contributing to industry periodicals and newsletters.
Rich has been admitted to the Florida Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth, Seventh and Second Circuits, United States Supreme Court, United States District Court for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, the Northern & Central Districts of Illinois, the District of Colorado, and the Western District of Michigan, as well as being admitted to appear on behalf of clients in numerous Federal and state courts as well as administrative tribunals across the United States.
In his time away from the office, Rich serves as a Board member of the North Florida Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and enjoys outdoor pursuits including biking, hunting, fishing and golf.
