Amy E. Richardson

Amy Richardson is a partner with the law firm of Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis LLP, where she serves as Chair of the Legal Ethics and Malpractice group. Ms. Richardson practices in Washington, D.C. and Raleigh, North Carolina. She focuses her practice on legal ethics and malpractice, complex civil litigation and government enforcement actions.

Legal Ethics and Malpractice. Ms. Richardson counsels and represents lawyers and law firms in disciplinary investigations and prosecutions and malpractice matters.  Ms. Richardson’s disciplinary experience includes matters before the USPTO’s Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) and the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).  She counsels and advises lawyers and law firms in partner admissions and departures, and law firm dissolutions. Richardson has taught ethics and professional responsibility at the Georgetown University Law Center and at Duke University School of Law.

Complex Civil Litigation. Ms. Richardson handles complex civil cases in federal court, state court, and in arbitration proceedings throughout the United States. She is experienced at handling matters through all stages of litigation. Ms. Richardson works closely with the firm’s telecommunications practice in cases involving the communications-technology industry, including Telephone Consumer Protection Act, intercarrier compensation and access fee disputes. Her recent experience as lead counsel includes:

• Obtaining Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice in federal court TCPA action.
• Grant of Motion to Compel Arbitration in alleged class action where arbitration clause requires individual resolution.
• Serving as lead counsel in a multidistrict litigation involving intraMTA access charges.

Regulatory Compliance and White Collar Criminal Defense. Ms. Richardson has successfully represented companies before federal and state regulatory agencies and Offices of Inspector General.  Ms. Richardson’s extensive white-collar criminal defense experience includes preparing clients for grand jury appearances and trial work. Ms. Richardson successfully represented one of the defendants in U.S. v. Price, Zaborsky & Ward, a high-profile obstruction of justice case in the District of Columbia Superior Court. At the conclusion of the two-month trial, the defendant was found not guilty. Ms. Richardson also assists clients in identifying, complying with and discovering noncompliance with complex and evolving federal regulatory requirements.

Ms. Richardson has received Chambers USA‘s top ranking for white collar crime and government investigations lawyers in North Carolina. She also has been ranked among Business North Carolina magazine’s “Legal Elite.” Ms. Richardson serves as Vice Chair of the Wake County Commission for Women, as Ethics Chair for the North Carolina Bar Association’s Litigation Council and Co-Chair of the FCBA Professional Responsibility Committee. She is also a co-founder of the North Carolina Compliance Association, an organization for compliance professionals that focuses on networking, information sharing, and educating members about current compliance issues and regulations.

Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Richardson served a judicial clerkship for the Honorable. N. Carlton Tilley, Middle District of North Carolina. Ms. Richardson received her J.D., cum laude, from Duke University School of Law, and her B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of North Carolina.