Richard Trapp

Richard graduated from the University of Florida in 1969 with a degree in business. While a student in Florida, he was an all-American football and baseball player. He is the only athlete in the history of UF to be an all-American in both sports. He was drafted by Buffalo in football and the Yankees in baseball. He chose football and played 4 years in the NFL. While playing football, he attended the University of Florida Law school, graduating in 1974 with his JD degree. He practiced for a few years with a prestigious insurance defense firm, then in 1980 decided to open his own firm handling all types of personal injury matters, commercial, homeowners, and divorce cases. During his years in practice, he was board-certified in civil trials and was selected as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation in recognition of his professional attainment, distinguished service, and commitment to the administration of justice. Only one-third of one percent of lawyers are selected as a Fellow.

Richard started mediating in 2000 and has mediated full-time since 2013, mediating over 2,500 cases. Richard primarily mediates personal injury and medical malpractice cases, although he has also mediated many family cases, homeowner/insurance/HOA disputes, commercial matters, and sports law cases. He has also been selected as an arbitrator in several cases.

Richard has been very active since 1974 participating in community service. He has been awarded “man of the year” by the Manatee County boys club, served several years as a board member of Spouse Abuse, Inc., and coached youth sports (basketball, baseball, football, and soccer) on a yearly basis starting in approximately 1990, amassing over 6,000 hours of volunteer coaching. He is also active as a volunteer for the “meals on wheels” program, delivering meals to families in need on a weekly basis. For the past several years, Richard has been an officer in the Orlando chapter of the National Football League Players Association, a charitable organization made up of former NFL players. He has also participated yearly as a guardian ad litem for the legal aid society of the Orange County Bar Association.

Richard has been married to Sharyn for over 45 years and they have 4 wonderful, kind sons and one grandson (thus far). Tennis has been a rather serious hobby, as Richard and Sharyn won a national title in husband and wife tennis at the National Tennis Center in New York, he has won 4 United States Tennis Association Individual National Singles championships over the years and has represented the U.S. in world tennis competitions.