Richard A. Newman is a Partner in the law firm of Arent Fox LLP and co-chairs its Municipal Finance Group.

Mr. Newman has extensive experience in municipal finance and has represented participants in public and private municipal transactions aggregating several billion dollars. Mr. Newman's clients include issuers, for-profit and not-for-profit developers and owners, trustees, servicers, portfolio managers, lenders, underwriters and governmental entities. Mr. Newman’s issuer clients have included Prince George’s County, Maryland and the California State University System. The Municipal Finance Group lawyers at Arent Fox have also represented the District of Columbia, New York State Dormitory Authority, New York State Throughway Authority, New York State Housing Agency, the State of New York, New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority, New York City Housing Development Corporation and New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation and various regional issuers.

Mr. Newman received a J.D. degree in 1980 from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, and a B.A. cum laude from New York University in 1977. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, and has been in private practice in Washington, D.C., concentrating in public finance, since 1980.

Arent Fox is one of the largest law firms in the District of Columbia with over 350 attorneys in its offices in Washington, New York and Los Angeles. The firm represents a broad range of clients locally, regionally, nationally and internationally and in a wide range of practice areas.
Arent Fox's Municipal Finance Group provides services as bond counsel, trustee's counsel, borrower’s counsel, underwriter's counsel, credit enhancement counsel, lender's counsel and servicer counsel to clients regionally and nationally.

Mr. Newman handles real estate, finance and tax matters for non-profit organizations on both a local and national level, with special emphasis on tax subsidy devices effecting the ownership and operation of real estate by non-profits. Mr. Newman handles both the real estate and financing needs of a range of clients, including public charities, social service agencies, universities, hospitals, trade associations, cultural institutions and foundations.

Some recent representative transactions include:

•   Serving as real estate counsel for a non-profit which acquired an office building partially leased to third parties, conversion of the property to an office condominium structure and then selling and leasing of portions of the project to third parties;

•   Representing a large, private museum and school of fine arts in the acquisition and development of an entire City block in Washington, D.C. as a mixed-use, multi-structure campus comprised of housing, office, classroom, gallery and retail uses;

•   Tax planning for several non-profit trade associations to minimize taxes on the sale of office buildings;

•   Serving as credit enhancer’s counsel on numerous large DOE, Army and GSA development projects nationally—including the Bayview NIH research facility in Baltimore and the IRS’ new Kansas City regional hub project, as well as the private financing of the new stadium for the Washington Nationals; and

•   Serving as borrower’s counsel for a six traunch, $450,000,000 tax-exempt variable rate bond financing for a large foundation developing a research campus in suburban Washington.
Representative clients include The Smithsonian Institution, Georgetown University, The Corcoran Museum, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Geographic Society, The American College of Cardiology, the Association of American Medical Colleges, Deutsche Bank and AMBAC Assurance Corporation.
Mr. Newman lectures periodically for the Urban Land Institute, National Association of Bond Lawyers, New York Association of Society Executives and the American Law Institute.