Notable Cases

Richard’s client base includes many high-profile individuals such as professional athletes, recording artists, and politicians. He is known as an “attorney’s attorney” who is always willing to step in for one of his brethren in need of legal advice at any time. Richard’s client base includes many high-profile individuals such as professional athletes, recording artists, and politicians. He is known as an “attorney’s attorney” who is always willing to step in for one of his brethren in need of legal advice at any time. In fact, on two separate occasions, he represented attorneys in New Jersey criminally charged by the State for misappropriation of clients’ funds and successfully avoided jail time for both on their State level criminal charges.

Among Richard’s more recent notable cases, Richard represented the Estate of Akyra Murray the youngest victim in the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando Florida and advocated to allow the 911 calls to be released to Ms. Murray’s family. As quoted by the New York Times from the Hearing: “If nothing else,” Mr. Klineburger said, “my clients want to hear their daughter’s last words.” Currently, Richard is representing the Estate of Nicolas Cumer, one of the victims from the August 4, 2019 mass shooting which occurred at a popular nightlife area in Dayton, OH in which nine people were fatally shot and 31 others were injured. Richard, along with attorneys from around the country Dayton, Ohio. This a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind lawsuit against the manufacturer of the 100-round magazine used in the shooting, Kyung Chang Industry USA, Inc. (KCI USA) and its related South Korean company, Kyungchang Industry Co., Ltd the company who manufactured and marketed the high capacity drum magazine used in the mass killing. The suit is pending in Clark County, Nevada.

Richard litigated and won a settlement from several police officers in a case that involved the shooting death of an individual involved in a high speed chase in South Eastern Pennsylvania. What made this case remarkable was that the deceased was shot and killed by police after he allegedly pointed a gun at the officers. It was determined that the gun was in fact a toy water pistol and that the decedent had his hands raised in surrender yet was shot over twenty times by twelve different officers.

In another matter Richard successfully defended a former National Football League athlete in a matter where the defendant was found driving a rental vehicle with over Ten Million Dollars worth of PCP in the trunk. Richard was able to prove that the police officers had fabricated allegations regarding the basis for the probable cause to stop and search the vehicle. The matter was dismissed on “racial profiling” grounds. Thereafter, in the same County, Richard also successfully defended a member of one of the most influential hip hop groups of all time who was a passenger in a motor vehicle where a kilogram of cocaine was found to be hidden. Richard is currently representing the manager of the same hip hop group in a multi-state contract dispute.

Richard is most proud of defending an indigent client who was charged with murdering his infant son by smashing his head into a bathtub. After two other attorneys gave up on the case, Richard began to dig apart at the mounds of discovery in preparation for trial. Upon obtaining forensic testing paid for out of his own pocket, Richard was able to prove that the State had erred and that the child had actually died from a failure to diagnose a concussion from earlier in the week even after the child had visited the hospital two times before his death. After three years of being wrongfully jailed, Richard’s client was released from custody and regained his former employment.

Amount many other victims of sexual assault in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania,
This is a case of first impression focused solely on the marketing and manufacture and sale of high-capacity magazines. He is also representing two victims who were shot in the San Diego Gaslamp Quarter. The individual who fired upon them utilized a “ghost gun” that was put together by using instructions from a California based company. Richard has begun litigation against the companies who manufacturer the ghost gun kits. He is also currently representing sexual abuse victims against the Boy Scouts of America who were abused in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey and recently settled cases for adults who were molested by their Boy Scout leader in 1983 at Treasure Island Campground in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.

Richard has also represented parties who have been harassed and discriminated against based upon their sex and race. Along with world renowned women’s rights attorney as co-counsel, Richard successfully represented a female account executive in Los Angeles, California who was sexually harassed by a senior member of an international firm. He also represented a female producer for one of the largest and most powerful sports leagues in the world who was told that she “Got as far as woman can get and needed to stop rocking the boat.” When a African-American female sales director was hired by a competing telecommunications company and was subsequently terminated due to the fact that her prior supervisor and new employer had a “gentleman’s agreement” not to hire each other’s employees, Richard took on the matter and was able to secure a settlement for his client along with reinstatement of her position. All of the foregoing matters resulted in high six-figure and million dollar settlements for his clients.

Richard has also argued two cases before the New Jersey Supreme Court in which both resulted in not only victories for his clients but created new law in New Jersey. These cases were:
Emma v. Evans, 215 N.J. 197 (2013). The New Jersey Supreme Court held that “the presumption in favor of the parent of primary residence when seeking, over the other parent’s objection, a change in the surname” of a child, does not apply to cases where the child was born in wedlock to parents who later divorce.
State v. Adkins, 221 N.J. 300 (2015) The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that police generally must obtain a search warrant before they take blood from suspected intoxicated drivers must apply to any case currently in the courts.

Richard was one of the youngest attorneys in New Jersey to earn the distinction of a Certified Criminal Trial Attorney. The Board on Attorney Certification was established by the Supreme Court of New Jersey for the purpose of helping consumers find attorneys who have a recognized level of competence in particular fields of law. Attorneys may be designated by the Supreme Court as “certified attorneys” if they are able to demonstrate sufficient levels of experience, education, knowledge and skill in a specific area of law or practice; have passed a rigorous examination; and have been recognized by their peers as having sufficient skills and reputation in the designated specialty. Richard has been named as a “Super Lawyer” in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Top Attorney in South Jersey, the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers and is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, where membership is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements.

Bar Admissions

New Jersey, 1995
Pennsylvania, 1997
U.S. District Court District of New Jersey, 1995
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1997
U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 1995
U.S. Tax Court, 2012
U.S. Supreme Court, 2006

Education

Temple University School of Law, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May, 1995-J.D.
Honors: Dean’s List
Honors: Distinguished Class Performance in Evidence (1995) & Torts (1992)
Honors: Barrister Award for Outstanding Performance in Trial Advocacy (1995)
Honors: Distinguished Service in the Public Interest (1994-1995)

Neumann University, Aston, PA, U.S., 1992-B.A.
Honors: Magna Cum Laude
Honors: National Honors Presenter, Spring 1992
Honors: Senior Class President; Graduation Speaker (1992)
Major: Political Science
Minor: Philosophy

Recent Classes/Seminars Taught

• Criminal Motion Practice & Updates
• Defense of the Complex Criminal Trial Including Psychological Defenses
• Preparation of an Effective Closing Argument and Aggressive Cross-Examination
• The Crossover of Criminal, Civil, and Family Law
• How to Prepare a Criminal Trial from Motions to Closing
• Gang Violence in Puerto Rico and New Jersey after Hurricane Maria
• Miami Heat – Criminal Law from Key West
• Litigating the High Profile, Multi-Jurisdictional Case
• Prosecuting a Victim’s Rights Case

Professional Associations and Memberships

New Jersey State Bar Association, Salem County Trustee (2018-Present)

New Jersey Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee (2020-Present)

Neumann University Board of Trustees (2014-Present)

National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers (Diplomat 2020 -2023)

Salem County New Jersey Bar Association (Past President)

Cape May County Bar Association

Million Dollar Advocates Forum

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Delaware County Pennsylvania Bar Association

The Philadelphia Justinian Society

Past Employment Positions

 Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, Law Clerk, Hon. Thomas Dempsey, 1995-1996

Superior Court of New Jersey, Judicial Law Clerk, Hon. Timothy G. Farrell, 1996 – 1997

Neumann University, Adjunct Professor, Humanities, 1995 – 1998
Dranoff & Patrizio, P.C., Legal Assistant, 1994 – 1995

Temple University School of Law, Teaching Assistant, Trial Advocacy, 1994 – 1995
Defender Association of Philadelphia, Law Intern, 1994

Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile – Family Court Division, Court Representative, Juvenile Division, 1989 – 1993

Law Offices of Richard F. Klineburger, III, Sole Practitioner, 1997 – 2004

Haddonfield

38 North Haddon Avenue
Haddonfield, NJ 08033
856-428-7000

Philadelphia

100 S. Juniper Street
3rd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-568-5155

Woodstown

17 West Avenue
Woodstown NJ 08098
856-428-7000

Cape May

1252 NJ Route 109
Cape May, NJ 08204
609-884-1788