Richard's Bio
Dick Riley is a tax partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Foley & Lardner LLP. He has been with the firm and its predecessors in Washington since 1983.
Exempt organization tax law is a primary focus of Dick’s tax practice. He has worked extensively with section 501(c)(3) charities (public charities and private foundations), section 501(c)(3) healthcare organizations, section 501(c)(3) educational organizations, section 501(c)(3) religious organizations, section 501(c)(4) social welfare and advocacy organizations, section 501(c)(6) trade associations, section 501(c)(7) social clubs, both state-chartered and federally chartered tax-exempt credit unions, and numerous other organizations, in providing tax advice and transactional planning representing organizations in IRS examinations and ruling projects, and litigating tax disputes in court. Illustrative projects in Dick’s exempt organization practice include the following:
Outside tax counsel to one of the nation’s largest tax-exempt social welfare membership organizations, advising on its nationwide social welfare activities, licensing and royalty activities, lobbying and advocacy activities, for-profit and charitable affiliates, unrelated business tax issues, and other tax matters.
Outside tax and corporate governance counsel to a nationwide tax-exempt public broadcasting organization, relating to fundraising and endowment activities, bylaws and internal governance guidelines, and general tax matters.
Tax and transactional counsel to a nationwide multi-campus nonprofit university, including its conversion from for-profit to nonprofit status.
Outside tax and corporate governance counsel to the leading US-based international software industry trade association, including its for-profit and charitable affiliates.
Representing the credit union system and individual state-chartered credit unions on the unrelated business tax consequences of insurance and financial products, negotiating with the IRS on unrelated business tax issues, and representing the industry in successful test-case litigation in two federal courts.
Tax and transactional counsel to US government-sponsored cybersecurity association serving multiple industries.
Member of Foley team advising a nationally recognized clinic and medical research organization on gift planning and charitable endowment issues.
Tax and transactional planning for a section 501(c)(3) library and museum in Southern California, including successful negotiations with the Internal Revenue Service to protect the organization’s tax exemption.
Representation of numerous insurance guaranty associations before the IRS National Office, resulting in the Service’s reversal of its initial position and final recognition of these organizations’ exemption from tax under section 501(c)(6).
Corporate and tax advice to many tax-exempt political campaign committees, PAC’s, and advocacy groups.
Creation and representation of the United States affiliate of a worldwide religious missionary order based in the United Kingdom.
Tax planning for numerous corporate merger and acquisition transactions involving tax-exempt organizations, including both section 501(c)(6) trade associations and section 501(c)(3) healthcare organizations.
Creation of many nonprofit organizations, large and small, and preparation and processing of many applications to the IRS for recognition of tax-exempt status.
Frequent writer and speaker to industry and professional organizations on tax exempt and nonprofit topics.
Dick has practical, personal knowledge of nonprofit governance and management issues. He serves on the board of directors of The Riley Foundation, a substantial grantmaking foundation in his home town of Meridian, Mississippi. Dick is also on the board of directors (Chair 2013-2014) of Legal Counsel for the Elderly, a 501(c)(3) organization providing legal services for low-income elderly residents of Washington DC. In addition, Dick serves on the board of directors of Acuity, A Mutual Insurance Company, a multistate property & casualty insurer headquartered in Wisconsin.
Dick is a 1980 magna cum laude graduate of Yale University, and received his J.D. with honors from Duke University School of Law in 1983. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, and the bars of the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Tax Court, the United States Court of Federal Claims, and numerous federal district and appeals courts.
Dick is a member of the Section of Taxation of the American Bar Association, where he serves as Co-chair of the Political & Lobbying Organizations Subcommittee of the Exempt Organizations Committee. He is a member of the Tax Sections of the District of Columbia Bar and the Federal Bar Association. He was a charter member of the J. Edgar Murdock American Inn of Court at the United States Tax Court, and has served on the board of editorial advisors of the monthly magazine The Tax Adviser.
Dick is Peer Review Rated as AV® Preeminent™, the highest performance rating in Martindale-Hubbell's peer review rating system. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.