"My course load included a heavy concentration in corporate law, securities, commercial law and real estate," says Richter, who also served as senior editor of the then-named University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Business Law — a preview of what was to come.

Inevitably, after a three-year stint practicing corporate law at New York City law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP, Richter came "home." In 1995 he joined Hill International as vice president and general counsel. In 2001, he moved over to the operations side of the company, taking over as president of Hill's Project Management Group. In 2004, he was promoted to president and COO. By the summer of 2006, he was helping ring the Nasdaq opening bell after spearheading the company's effort to go public. Hill, which had already managed over 1,000 projects valued at more than $100 billion, was poised for even greater growth.