Remembering Richard Spohn

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Richard Spohn, our friend and colleague, who was a partner at Nossaman for many years.

Richard had a remarkable career. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Fordham University before obtaining his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1972. He joined Nossaman in 1983 and helped establish the Firm’s healthcare practice.

Prior to coming to Nossaman, Richard had been Director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs during Governor Jerry Brown’s first administration, which included what is now the Medical Board of California. In the early 2000s, Richard took a sabbatical from Nossaman to work at the Universidad Rafael Landívar in Guatemala, where he developed and managed the “Proyecto Laboral,” a program of dialogue and conflict-resolution training that involved that country’s top management and labor leaders and achieved historic breakthroughs in labor relations. He then served as University Professor and Founding Director of the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service at the University of San Francisco. He returned to Nossaman in 2004 and re-established a thriving practice focusing on managed health care. From 2004 to 2013, he chaired the Firm’s Health Law Group and was lauded as one of the State’s top authorities on laws relating to Health Maintenance Organizations and other managed healthcare delivery mechanisms.

“In addition to being an outstanding lawyer, Richard was known for his integrity, his dry wit and his deep, abiding commitment to his family,” said David Graeler, managing partner of Nossaman. “He will be missed by the Nossaman community.”

“Richard was an exemplary leader of the healthcare practice during his time at Nossaman,” said Tom Curtis, co-chair of the Firm’s Health Law Group. “His knowledge of California’s healthcare industry was second-to-none, and he was a great mentor to lawyers in the group. I am saddened by his passing.”