Richard Underwood began teaching at the University of Kentucky in 1980. Prior to that he clerked for U.S. District Judge David S. Porter (1976-78) and practiced at the Columbus, Ohio firm of Vorys, Sater Seymour and Pease. Professor Underwood served as the Chairman of the Kentucky Bar Associations Ethics Committee (1984-1998), Chairman of the Unauthorized Practice Committee (1984-1996), and Chairman of the KBA Model Rules Committee (1988-1989). He was a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility (2011-2014). He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a Life Fellow of the Kentucky Bar Foundation. He served in the Army from 1969 to 1973, and he is a Viet Nam War Veteran.