The Honorable Richard A. Lanzillo was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and is a 1983 graduate of Mercyhurst University.  He is the recipient of the University's Carpe Diem Award, the highest honor conferred upon a graduate. Judge Lanzillo graduated, summa cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1987.  In law school, he served as a member and editor on the Law Review, and received the University of Pittsburgh School of Law Alumni Scholarship, the Allegheny County Bar Prize, and a University Owens Fellowship award.  Upon graduation, Judge Lanzillo was inducted into the Order of the Coif.

For thirty years, Judge Lanzillo’s law practice focused on complex commercial, employment, and civil rights litigation and alternative dispute resolution.  Judge Lanzillo has been listed in Best Lawyers in America---Commercial Litigation (2013-2019) and received an AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating.  During his years of practice, Judge Lanzillo was admitted to practice before the courts of Pennsylvania, New York, and Arizona, as well as numerous federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeal for the Third, Ninth and Federal Circuits.  Judge Lanzillo frequently lectures on commercial litigation, civil rights, and alternative dispute resolution topics. 

Judge Lanzillo has been active in the Erie County Bar Association and served as the Association's president in 2015.  In 2017, he received the President's Award for service to the Erie County Bar Association. Judge Lanzillo has also been an active participant in the Erie County Bar Foundation's Attorneys and Kids Together Program, which supports the needs of children living in homeless situations. 

Judge Lanzillo was a member of the Mercyhurst University Board of Trustees from 2002 until 2019, serving as the Chairperson of the Board for many years.  He is active in many other local charities and civic organizations.  He is married.  He and his wife have two daughters.