Full Name
Captain Alan Richard
Company
Tallahassee, Florida
Speaker Bio
Captain Alan Richard is nationally recognized as an expert in the laws and regulations that govern the operation of small vessels. He is also recognized as an expert in small craft operation and safety, and in boating accident analysis and reconstruction. He has testified in state and federal courts as an expert witness in cases from Key West to Seattle. He is a member and past chair of the Florida Bar’s Admiralty Law Committee. He is a member of the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute and served on its board of directors. The Coast Guard has licensed him to serve as Master of Steam Ships and Motor Vessels. Captain Richard served five terms on the Coast Guard’s Navigation Safety Advisory Council where he chaired the Rules of the Road Committee and numerous working groups.

Captain Richard retired after more than 36 years as a maritime law enforcement officer. He started with the Florida Marine Patrol (FMP) in 1977 and served seven years patrolling the waters between Palm Beach and the Florida Keys. In addition to his other duties, he served as the Marine Patrol’s District Divemaster and taught Marine Enforcement and Investigations at the Miami-Dade Community College and the Southeast Florida Institute of Criminal Justice. Since 1984, Captain Richard’s duties have included teaching boating enforcement courses, first at the FMP Academy and then, after the 1999 merger that created the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC), for that agency. He served as the officer in charge of the FWCC’s Boating Safety and Waterway Management Section where he oversaw Florida’s efforts to improve boating safety. His final full-time duty station was as Assistant General Counsel for the FWCC where he served as Law Enforcement Legal Advisor, and as Staff Attorney for both the Boating Safety and Waterway Management Section and the Florida Boating Advisory Council.

Although Captain Richard retired from full-time employment with the FWCC in 2010 and retired as a reserve officer in 2014, he continues to teach Boating Law, Boating Accident Investigation, and Boating Accident Analysis and Reconstruction for that agency and for the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators. He is an Adjunct Professor and is in his 21st year teaching Admiralty Law at the Florida State University’s College of Law. He has taught BUI Enforcement and other marine enforcement courses for the University of North Florida’s Institute of Police Technology and Management, and Maritime Crimes for the Florida Coastal School of Law. He frequently presents training to marine law enforcement officers and maritime attorneys. The Florida Supreme Court has dispatched him four times to teach boating law to Florida’s judges. His publications include two chapters in the Florida Bar’s Maritime Law Practice Manual. His writings have been quoted in court opinions and legislative bill analyses.

Captain Richard has a BS degree in Criminology from the Florida State University and a JD with Highest Honors from FSU’s College of Law. He resides with his family in Tallahassee.
Speaking At
Derelict and Abandoned Vessels Under State Law
Captain Alan Richard