As co-chair of Arent Fox’s Public Finance Group, Richard provides services as borrower’s counsel, underwriter’s counsel, credit enhancement counsel, trustee’s counsel, servicer/originator counsel, and bond counsel to clients nationally. He also represents clients in all phases of real estate acquisition, development, financing, leasing and disposition, as well as nonprofit and for-profit organizations in federal and local tax matters, including Tax Increment Financings, Special Tax District financings, real estate tax matters, and exempt organization taxation.

Richard has extensive experience in both real estate and municipal and public finance and tax and has represented numerous public and private, for-profit and not-for-profit developers and owners of all classes of real estate, as well as lenders, credit enhancers, underwriters, trustees, and governmental entities. He regularly represents clients in the public financing of facilities for use by the federal and local governments, and has represented the developer or credit enhancer in projects for the GSA, IRS, NIH, DOE, VA, and NOAA, as well as for various localities. He has also represented the ownership of the US Air Arena and the Verizon Center in the public financings of each facility utilizing taxable and tax exempt municipal bonds.

Richard handles real estate, finance, and tax matters for numerous cultural institutions (including The Phillips Collection, The Guggenheim Museum, The Arena Stage, and The Shakespeare Theatre); public policy groups (including the World Wildlife Fund, the National Wildlife Federation, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America); quasi-governmental entities (The Smithsonian Institution, The National Academies of Science, and the Institute for Defense Analyses); and other large and small nonprofit organizations (the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists).

In the municipal finance area, Richard has, among other things, represented the first non-hospital, non-university nonprofit to achieve an investment-grade rating; the first conduit borrower to use tax exempt bonds issued by the District of Columbia; and the borrower in the largest new money 501(c)(3) issuance reported to date.

In the real estate field, Richard has represented several multifamily developers, including MuniCap, NHP/AIMCO, Lincoln Properties, and The Artery Group; in the office and commercial sectors, in addition to extensive end-user representation, Richard represents several investor groups, including The Goldstar Group and several private equity funds based in the Washington, DC area.

Richard is a former general counsel to The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. He is a member of the board of Arena Stage and AIA Legacy Foundation.

Before entering private practice, Richard worked for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of General Counsel, and was affiliated with several prominent firms in the Washington, DC area.

Richard is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers and a fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.

Richard was recognized as a leading real estate lawyer in Washington, DC by Chambers USA from 2006-2012, and by American Lawyer. He was also selected by Super Lawyers magazine as a leading real estate lawyer in 2011 and 2012.

Richard speaks regularly for the Urban Land Institute, National Association of Bond Lawyers, and various trade groups, including NUASE.

Richard is married, has three children, and together with his wife collects contemporary art and African masks. He also has a passion for the theater and the beach. Richard began his career as an advocate for the development and preservation of low and mixed income housing in transitional neighborhoods of Cleveland.