Richard G. Small

Over his career, Richard has represented a broad base of clients ranging from buyout and venture capital firms, large manufacturing and service companies, financial services companies, governmental agencies and technology-driven startup and established companies. His clients have been publicly traded and privately owned companies.

For an extended period of time, Richard has been principally focused on handling sophisticated transaction work while serving as counsel to a number of midmarket and lower midmarket private equity firms and companies backed by private equity firms. In such capacity he has led deal teams handling numerous mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, leveraged recapitalizations, debt and equity financings, joint ventures, mezzanine financings and venture capital investments (early and late stage) as both company counsel and investor counsel. He has also represented numerous management teams in connection with such transactions.

More recently, Richard’s practice has been significantly concentrated in handling transactions representing founder-owners in sales principally to private equity firms and acquisitions and sales representing strategic partners.

For 30 years, Richard has been listed in the nationally recognized the Best Lawyers in America® publication. He appeared in the 2026 edition both in Corporate Law and in Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law.

• Platform acquisitions by private equity firms from founder-sellers, other private equity firms and strategic sellers (public and private) of product lines and divisions.
• Follow on acquisitions by companies controlled by private equity firms.
• Sales and other liquidity events by founder-sellers and private equity firms to strategic acquirors and other private equity firms.
• Management team representation at all stages of private equity investment, including initial acquisition, ongoing company events and liquidity events.
• Dividend and other like recapitalizations.

• The Best Lawyers in America®, Corporate Law and Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law (2026)