Richard Kopelman - Sandy Springs, GA

It was only a few years earlier that Richard stopped representing corporations and insurance companies and began advocating exclusively for victims of serious personal injuries. Anyone who meets Richard has a difficult time imagining him representing insurance companies and Richard will tell you his heart was never in defending corporate interests, but he credits much of his success representing injury victims to knowing how the other side thinks. Richard has recovered many substantial verdicts and settlements in catastrophic injury cases for numerous clients and their families.

Yet the verdict against Piedmont Hospital (Atlanta, GA) remains Richard's most memorable victory. In that instance, his efforts resulted in a verdict of more than $1 million in a trip-and-fall case. While Piedmont Hospital did not offer a single dollar in compensation, Richard's efforts resulted in a verdict of more than $1 million in a trip-and-fall case.

• Attorney Richard Kopelman is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, having successfully secured for his clients and their families jury verdicts and settlements of at least $1 million.
• Richard is a member of the American Association for Justice (formerly Association of Trial Lawyers of America [ATLA]); Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA); State Bar of Georgia; and the Atlanta, DeKalb County and American Bar Associations.
• He is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, signifying the "highest rating in legal ability and ethical standards" as judged by his peers, and was first recognized as a SuperLawyer^TM, a distinction enjoyed by the top 5% of attorneys), in 2011.
• He has been named one of the "Top Attorneys In Georgia" by Atlanta Magazine and has been selected as one of the State's "Legal Elite" by Georgia Trend magazine.

Richard Kopelman is licensed in federal and state courts throughout Georgia where he began practicing law in 1987. He is selective in the cases his firm chooses to pursue, a luxury Richard earned after decades of successfully representing victims of serious personal injuries, and families whose loved ones were the victims of wrongful death.

Richard Kopelman practice includes representing individual clients as well as those whose cases are filed as part of mass tort, multi-district litigation (MDL), in which the firm has been involved on both a local and national level.

Kopelman earned his undergraduate degree, with honors, from Washington and Lee University in 1984, and three years later, earned his law degree from the University of Georgia, where he represented the University in numerous moot court competitions, including the National Moot Court Competition, where his team placed first in the Southeast Region. Kopelman took top honors when he was named the competition's Best Oral Advocate. In addition, he was selected to be a National Member of The Order of Barristers, having exhibited excellence and attained high honor through the art of courtroom advocacy.

In addition to managing a successful law practice Richard Kopelman served as President of KLASS-SPORTS, LLC from 2009 through 2019. As an NFLPA Certified Contract Advisor (NFL Player Agent), Richard negotiated multi-million-dollar contracts for numerous professional football players, including Kyle Arrington (New England Patriots) 4-years/$16 million (ESPN.com) and Steve McLendon (Pittsburgh Steelers) 3-years/$7.5 million (NFL.com.

Drawing upon his knowledge and experience as an NFL agent and trial lawyer, Richard has been involved in NFL Concussion Litigation where Richard represented, among others, the families of three NFL Hall of Fame inductees who died - and were diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) - after years of suffering the devastating physical, mental, and emotional effects of concussions and brain injuries they sustained during their storied NFL careers.

Richard was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but since graduating from law school, has lived and worked in Atlanta which is home to Richard, his wife, and their three sons, who from the time they were little boys, would respond to the question "What does your daddy do for a living?" by saying "he helps people." Richard and his family support the Atlanta Food Bank, and Richard spent more than a decade coaching youth lacrosse, where he spent countless hours with his sons and their teammates. In addition to coaching, Richard served on the board of Junior Raider Lacrosse, Inc., and he also volunteered his time at Ridgeview Charter School where he served, including as President, on the school's parent-teacher Governance Council.

A former collegiate athlete and self-described exercise enthusiast, Richard joined the Atlanta Rowing Club (ARC) in 2016 after a bicycle accident led to him abandoning the sport for what seemed a much safer activity. Within a year of taking up rowing, Richard joined ARC's competitive team with which he raced at master's regattas throughout the southeast, nationally, and internationally. In recent years, as part of the Men's 4+, Richard and his teammates won several National gold medals, placed in the top 5 at the Head of the Charles Regatta (the world's largest two-day rowing event), and in 2022 won gold at the World Rowing master's Regatta in Libourne, France. Richard has since stepped away from racing but still enjoys his time on the Chattahoochee River, particularly working with ARC's Adaptive Rowing Program where Richard helps PR2 (athletes who are unable to use their legs to propel the shell's sliding seat) and PR3 (athletes who have a physical or visual impairment) rowers enjoy a challenging sport that allows athletes to test their physical and mental limits, while at the same time enjoying the beauty and serenity of the rivers they row.