Richard serves on Fennemore’s six-person management committee and is the managing partner of our Las Vegas office.  He works in the business litigation practice group, where he focuses primarily in the areas of labor and employment law, administrative law, and general commercial litigation, including construction. With more than two decades of experience as a business litigator, he has guided a broad range of clients through traditional labor matters such as Title VII defense, ERISA claims, wage and hour disputes, OSHA proceedings, collective bargaining, and representation of employers before the National Labor Relations Board.

In the construction and real estate litigation arena, Richard represents clients in construction law matters, serving as lead counsel on behalf of general contractors, subcontractors, and materials suppliers in litigation involving public and private projects in both state and federal courts. Formerly a deputy attorney general in Nevada, he also maintains an administrative law practice and has prosecuted regulatory infractions by professional licensees and served as board counsel during hearings and in appellate proceedings before the Nevada district courts and the Nevada Supreme Court.

Beginning in 1996 with a clerkship in Las Vegas, today Richard is a fixture in the Nevada legal community, and he thoroughly enjoys the mental challenges of working at a large law firm on complex litigation matters with a dynamic team of business litigation attorneys. He views his work like looking at a puzzle — seeking new approaches to solving problems, which may be unseen at first glance.

Rich was elected to the State Bar of Nevada board of directors in 2013 and is a proud liaison to the state board of continuing education. He also serves as the vice-chair of Nevada Public Radio, KNPR.

• J.D., Washington University School of Law
• B.S., College of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University

OTHER EXPERIENCE

• Insurance Regulatory and Compliance
• Life, Health and Disability
• Manage Care Litigation and Compliance

• Best Lawyers in America^®, Employment Law Management, Litigation-Labor and Employment, 2019-2022
• “Legal Elite,” Nevada Business Magazine, 2020-2021
• “Rookie of the Year,” State of Nevada Office of the Attorney General, 2005
• AV^® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated (the highest rating available), by Martindale-Hubbell

• Interview, “It is only in the presence of humility that learning and professional growth becomes possible,” Fennemore Blog, October 7, 2021
• Interview, “Labor, employment specialist discusses President Biden’s vaccine mandates,” KTNV Las Vegas, September 9, 2021
• Interview, “Can employees who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine get unemployment benefits?” KTNV Las Vegas, September 8, 2021
• Quoted, “Las Vegas small business owner leaves mask decision to customers,” KTNV Las Vegas, May 14, 2021
• Quoted, “Mask guidance relaxed for vaccinated individuals, employers can impose their own mask requirements,” KTNV Las Vegas, May 13, 2021
• Quoted, “BACK TO WORK: Can remote employees be forced back to work in-person?” KTNV Las Vegas, May 3, 2021
• Quoted, “Get vaccine or submit to weekly test: Wynn Las Vegas employee fumes over options,” KTVN Las Vegas, April 8, 2021
• Podcast, “Fenn.Talks: Reaching New Heights with Richard Dreitzer,” April 7, 2021
• Quoted, “COVID-19 Vaccine and Employers,” KTNV Las Vegas, December 8, 2020
• Quoted, “COVID-19 Vaccine and Employers,” KVVU Fox 5, December 7, 2020
• Quoted, “Insurer fires back against Durham business owners’ Covid claims,” Triangle Business Journal, September 30, 2020
• Speaker, “Pandemic Paradigm Shift: The Perils and the Promise,” State Bar of Nevada Webinar, June 30, 2020
• Quoted, “As Georgia Reopens Nail and Hair Salons, Lawyers Say Companies May be Putting Themselves at Risk,” Yahoo Life, April 24, 2020
• Quoted, “How to Keep Your Employees Healthy During the Coronavirus,” Business.com, April 7, 2020
• Interview, “Small business loans: How and when to apply,” Fox 11, April 7, 2020
• Interview, “Assistance for Small Businesses,” Fox 11, April 7, 2020
• Co-author, “COVID-19: Health Plan Coverage For Furloughed Employees,” Fennemore Client Alert, March 26, 2020
• Co-author, “Understanding the Emergency Family Medical Leave Expansion Act and Emergency Paid Sick Leave in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act,” Fennemore Client Alert, March 20, 2020
• Interview, “Coronavirus Relief Bill,” Fox 5 News Las Vegas, March 19, 2020
• Quoted, “Q + A: Las Vegas Lawyer Talks About Labor Law as Coronavirus Alters Workplace,” Las Vegas Sun, March 17, 2020
• Co-author, “Frequently Asked Questions About the Coronavirus in the Employment Setting,” Fennemore Client Alert, March 17, 2020
• Interview, “MGM Resorts report layoffs: Local attorney explains workers’ rights,” KTNV News, March 14, 2020
• Quoted, “New Trade Deal Provisions Give US Tech Firms Legal Shields,” eCommerce Times, October 9, 2019

• Small Claims Court Referee, Justice Court, Las Vegas Township, 2009-present
• Member, Board of Governors, State Bar of Nevada, 2013-present
• Board Member, Nevada Public Radio, 2013-present
• Member, Fee Dispute Committee, State Bar of Nevada, 2011-present
• Member, State of Nevada Board of Continuing Legal Education, 2014-present
• Justice of the Peace, Pro Tempore, Justice Court, Las Vegas Township, 2009-2018
• Member, Lawyers Referral Information Service Committee, 2011-2014
• Member, Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee, State Bar of Nevada, 2001-2004

• Arizona
• Missouri
• Nevada
• Supreme Court State of Missouri
• Eighth Judicial District Court Clark County, Nevada
• Supreme Court State of Nevada
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
• U.S. District Court, District of Nevada
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Nevada