Richard Bainter provides legal representation to international organizations, nonprofits and small businesses.  He has served as legal counsel to the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia since 2007 and has advised several other international organizations on matters related to their internal administration, diplomatic and organizational immunities and their external relations with governments and other organizations. He has been involved in a number of projects to promote democratic governance and the rule of law in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Kosovo, Lithuania, Poland, Russia South Sudan and Viet Nam. Mr. Bainter also represents businesses and nonprofits in California, particularly those with international dealings, on matters related to their governance, business operations and transactions. He is trained in mediation and has mediated many complex and politically sensitive disputes.

Mr. Bainter serves on the Advisory Board of the San Diego Diplomacy Council, a nonprofit organization that facilitates the visits of foreign leaders to San Diego and on the National Governing Board of Common Cause, a nonprofit organization that promotes open, honest and accountable government in the United States. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the International Law Section of the California Lawyers Association.

Mr. Bainter has taught classes on international law at the University of California, San Diego, the University of San Diego School of Law and Thomas Jefferson School of Law.  He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Denver College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Iowa. He has been licensed to practice law in Colorado since 1988 and in California since 2010. Mr. Bainter lives in the Bay Ho neighborhood of San Diego with his wife and two sons.