May 2004

In December 2002, Rich Sudder was deployed to Uzbekistan as the sole defense attorney for more than 10,000 U.S. service members serving Operation Enduring Freedom. Stationed in Karshi-Kanabad in southern Uzbekistan, the majority of his work and time was in Afghanistan, where he advised soldiers on their legal rights under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and defended soldiers facing criminal charges and administrative separations. He represented soldiers before the first pre-trial hearing and administrative board ever held in Afghanistan.

Before his oversea assignment, he was stationed with the XVIII Airborne Corps in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The day after September 11th, Rich was deployed to Washington D.C. to assist federal and local civilian authorities with the coordination of recovery efforts at the Pentagon. Rich returned stateside last June and has been in Arlington, Virginia since August, working in the Contract Appeals Division of the Army Legal Services Agency.

"I was one of several guys in my class to join the JAG Corps after law school and I highly recommend the experience to any students at UM considering the military. Litigation Skills and Criminal Law are the courses that prepared me the most for the JAG Corps. JAG officers are going to court months after graduating from law school and the majority of the cases are criminal. Another focus area for the JAG Corps is contracts. My assignment for the past year has been defending the government in protests from contractors not selected for military contracts and in appeals from contractors during contract performance. The hours are long and we're constantly being asked to do more with less, but I can't think of a better way to have spent the past four years."

At UM, Rich participated in intramural softball, football, swimming, and the Dean's Cup. He was the athletic director for the Student Bar Association, and a member of the Honor Council, the Tax Law Society, and the Aviation Law Society. The summer after his first year, he participated in the FBI's Honor Program in Washington, D.C., where he was involved with white collar crimes, dealing mostly with insurance and telemarketing fraud as well as some intellectual property cases. The following summer, Rich had an internship with the Army JAG Corps at Fort McPherson, Georgia, where he worked in estate planning and criminal law. During his second and third year of law school, he worked in the Public Defender's Office in Miami.

Rich was born in Laredo, Texas and grew up in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He played football in college for Florida State University. After graduating with a degree in finance in 1993, he worked as a financial analyst for two years and coached high school football before starting law school.

Rich's tour with the JAG Corps ends in August. In June, he is interviewing for a position with the FBI.