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Richard A. Nunnelley

Member , Lexington KY

859.231.3957

Richard A. Nunnelley

Member , Lexington KY

Rick is a Member of Stoll Keenon Ogden’s Lexington office and has been with the firm since 1991. He serves as Chair of the Real Estate practice and is also a member of the Business Services practice with a focus on Equine.

Rick’s practice focuses on commercial real estate acquisitions, development, financing, leasing and condominium development, equine acquisitions, leasing, syndications, management agreements, service agreements, regulatory law, and foreign ownership. While attending the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, Rick served as a member and as a manuscript editor of the Journal of Family Law, was elected as a Senator of the Student Government Association, was inducted into the Brandeis Honor Society, was a member of the Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity and was a staff writer for the Louisville Law Examiner. Rick is AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® and is recognized by Chambers USA, Best Lawyers, and Kentucky Super Lawyers for his many legal accomplishments.

Rick is a member of the Fayette County, Kentucky, and American Bar associations as well as the International Council of Shopping Centers, The Keeneland Club, the Thoroughbred Club of America, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association KTA/KTOB, the American Horse Counsel and The American College of Equine Attorneys. He also serves on the board of directors for the High Hope Steeplechase Association and Central Kentucky Riding for Hope and the planning committees for the National Equine Law Conference and the UK Biennial Real Estate Law and Practice Institute. He also served on the Personnel Committee and as a deacon for Crestwood Christian Church. He is married with two daughters. Rick has owned Thoroughbred racing and breed interests and enjoys Thoroughbred horse racing, golf and skeet, trap, and sporting clays during his free time.

Education

University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, 1991, J.D., cum laude

Transylvania University, 1988, B.A.

Experience

Admitted In

  • Kentucky

  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky

Professional & Community Activities

  • Fayette County Bar Association, Equine Law Section, former Chair

  • Thoroughbred Owners

  • Breeders Association KTA/KTOB

  • Kentucky Bar Association

  • American Bar Association

  • American Horse Counsel

  • International Council of Shopping Centers, Member

  • UKCLE Real Estate Law Institute and Practice, Planning Committee

  • Central Kentucky Riding For Hope, Inc., Board of Directors

  • High Hope Steeplechase Association, Inc., Board of Directors

  • Crestwood Christian Church, Personnel Committee, 2006-2008; Past Deacon

  • National Equine Law Conference, Planning Committee

Accolades

  • AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®

  • Best Lawyers® 2019 Real Estate Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Lexington

  • The Best Lawyers in America®, Real Estate Law, 2009 – present

  • Kentucky Super Lawyers® Honoree, 2015 – 2020

  • Chambers USA, Leading Lawyer for Business, Real Estate, 2014 – 2017

  • Brandeis Honor Society

Work Highlights

  • Landowner Defense

    Represented numerous individual, agricultural, commercial and industrial landowners in negotiations and litigation against the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Department of Highways, in connection with acquisitions of right-of-way for road projects and other assorted road and highway issues.

  • Acquisitions & Syndications

    SKO represented clients in the acquisition of significant breeding interests in five Thoroughbreds which became ranked among the 10 leading sires of 2011 as well as three of the past six winners of the Kentucky Derby. SKO continued to be active in the syndication of stallions rotating between hemispheres, including stallions rotating between Europe and Australasia, the United States and South America, and the United States and Australia, and the related tax issues involved.

  • Horse Farm Transactions

    SKO has represented numerous domestic and international clients with the acquisition and disposition of premier horse farms and related properties throughout the United States.

  • Major Water Pipeline Project

    Worked with a water utility client that was acquiring right-of-way access. We assisted with negotiations and, where necessary, litigation to secure rights to construct a much needed 42” water main to transport water from the Kentucky River to Lexington and surrounding communities, securing a new and dependable water source for Central Kentucky for years to come.

  • Mergers & Acquisitions

    SKO successfully represented a number of clients in the acquisition of thoroughbred farms and related membership interests, including verification of environmental data and private development rights.

Seminars

    • Biennial Case Law & Legislative Update for the Real Estate Attorney, University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, 16th Biennial Real Estate Law & Practice Institute, Speaker, 2021
    • Legislative Update, 15th Biennial UK Real Estate Law & Practice Institute, Presenter, 2019
    • Multi Perspective Panel on Foreign Persons Doing Equine Activities in the U.S., 34th Annual National Conference on Equine Law, Panelist, 2019
    • Legislative Update, 14th Biennial UK Real Estate Law & Practice Institute, Presenter, 2017
    • Ownership, Syndicates and International Racing, Second Pan American Conference, Panelist, 2017
    • An Overview of Ownership: What Every Owner Should Know, Second National Thoroughbred Owner Conference, Panelist, 2016
    • Equine Real Estate: Buying and Selling a Horse Farm, 30th Annual National Conference on Equine Law, Presenter, 2015
    • TOBA New Owners Seminar, Panelist, 2014
    • Buying and Selling Thoroughbred Horses, The Eighth Annual ABA GPSolo National Solo & Small Firm Conference, Presenter, 2013
    • Legal & Practical Tips in Condominium Developments, Downtown Expo, Presenter, 2007
    • 7th Biennial UK Real Estate Law & Practice Institute, Foreign Ownership of Real Property, Presenter, 2000
    • SKO Hemp Seminar, Oct. 29, 2019
Contact Richard Today

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