Richard R. Rulon is a principal of Klasko, Rulon, Stock & Seltzer, LLP, a firm with offices in Philadelphia and New York and a national immigration law practice. Mr. Rulon graduated from Brown University in 1964 and from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1967.

In the summer of 1964, he joined Dechert Price & Rhoads, a multinational law firm headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as an Associate in the firm’s Litigation Department. He spent the next 20 years primarily engaged in antitrust and class action litigation. Mr. Rulon became involved in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the practice of immigration law as part of Dechert’s effort to develop an International Practice Group. To help expand the depth and breadth of his knowledge of immigration law, he joined the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) in 1982 and became a member of the AILF Philadelphia Chapter.

In 1987, Ron Klasko joined Dechert as a partner and he and Mr. Rulon established the Dechert Immigration Law Practice Group where, over time, they were joined, among others, by Bill Stock and Suzanne Seltzer. By 1990, the principal focus of Mr. Rulon’s practice at Dechert had become immigration and nationality law. He became an officer of the Philadelphia Chapter of AILA in 1994 and Chapter Chair in 1997.

Mr. Rulon became involved in local politics in 1981 and was elected that year to the Board of Commissioners of Upper Dublin Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He served for sixteen years as a Commissioner and was Chairman of the Board of Commissioners for the last six years. In 1998, he received Upper Dublin’s Outstanding Citizen Award.

Mr. Rulon was an active participant in AILA’s successful effort in 1996 to “split the bill” and received the AILA President’s Award that year. He became a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF) in 1997 and served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1998 to 2004. As Chairman of AILF’s Board of Trustees, Mr. Rulon worked together with the President of the Board of Directors, the Directors and the Trustees of AILF to place AILF on firm financial footing, and to establish it as a recognized, effective force in battling the restrictionist throng in the immigration arena. The recent successes of AILF’s core program areas - Public Education Program, Exchange Visitor Program, Immigration Policy Center and Legal Action Center - bear witness to AILF’s coming of age.

Mr. Rulon remains active in AILF and presently serves as Chairman of AILA’s Investment Committee and as a member of its Finance Committee. In 2005, he was selected for inclusion in the national publication, Best Lawyers in America, and also as a “Pennsylvania Super Lawyer” in a regional publication, Law & Politics.

Mr. Rulon has been married to Nancy Rulon for 41 years. They have five children - Melissa, Stefanie, Jennifer, Samantha and Amanda, who range in age from 31 to 40, and six grandchildren - Max, Gus, Sophie, Rowan, Emma and Adelaide, who range in age from 2 to 12. His daughter, Jennifer, will soon be giving birth to two more grandchildren - twin girls. His hobbies include skiing, tennis, squash, biking and fishing and, between his wife, his daughters and his grandchildren, he can always find someone willing to join in.