Richard John Cole, III

Richard J. Cole, III is a shareholder with Cole & Cole Law, P.A. in Sarasota, Fla., where he pri- marily practices in litigation and bankruptcy. AV Rated by Martindale Hubbell, he is a current executive board member on the Federal Bar Association's LGBTQ+ Section, a former chair of the FBA's State & Local Government Relations Section, and is a former chair of the ABI's Consumer Committee. Mr. Cole received his B.A. from the University of Florida and his J.D. cum laude from the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, where he was a mem- ber of the Florida Law Review and served as a research editor. In 2006, he was awarded the Book Award for Corporations Law. He also served as a board member on the Law College Council, a student government body, and studied European law at the Universiteit Leiden, Netherlands, during his J.D. program. After completing his J.D., Mr. Cole went to London to further study international and European laws, focusing on international finance, investment and insolvency law. He received his LL.M. with merit in 2009.