Richard L. Fox
{{short description|American lawyer}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Richard L. Fox
| image = Fox Richard 1500x2100.jpg
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| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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| alma_mater = Temple University (BBA, JD)
New York University (LLM)
| occupation = Tax attorney and author
}}
Richard L. Fox is an American author and attorney, best known for his work with large estates, and philanthropic planning.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bipc.com/buchanan-ingersoll-and-rooney-hires-notable-philadelphia-tax-attorney-richard-l.-fox|title=Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Hires Notable Philadelphia Tax Attorney Richard L. Fox|date=20 June 2016}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.com/thelegalintelligencer/2022/01/31/buchanan-tax-lawyer-launches-solo-practice/|title=Buchanan Tax Lawyer Launches Solo Practice|work=The Legal Intelligencer|date=31 January 2022}}
Fox currently serves as the Founding Partner at The Law Offices of Richard L. Fox. He previously served as the head of the philanthropic and non-profit practice at the mid-sized firm Dilworth Paxson and a shareholder in the tax department of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney.
Early life
Fox was born, and grew up, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Temple University and the Temple University Beasley School of Law where he received his BBA and JD.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pgdc.com/pgdc/story/richard-l-fox|work=PGDC Network|title =Richard L. Fox}} He went on to graduate with an LLM from New York University.
Legal career
In 1994, Fox began his legal career at Dilworth Paxson LLP, a prestigious Philadelphia law firm.https://www.hinklaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/Worth.com-Top-100-Attorneys-2009-Dan-Peare.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}} Later in his career at Dilworth Paxson, Fox became the head of the firm's philanthropic and non-profit practice. He was named to Worth magazine's list of "Top 100 attorneys in the country representing affluent families and individuals".{{Cite web|url=http://www.pgdc.com/g/richard-l-fox|title = Richard L. Fox, Esq. | Planned Giving Design Center}} At Dilworth, Fox served as one of billionaire Walter Annenberg's most-trusted attorneys and he continues to serve as an attorney for the Annenberg Foundation.{{Cite web|url=https://smmirror.com/2011/02/annenberg-charges-breach-of-trust-at-west-l-a-va-aclu-veterans-support-investigation-of-local-va-conduct/|work=Santa Monica Mirror|title=Annenberg Charges Breach of Trust at West L.A. VA: ACLU, Veterans Support Investigation of Local VA Conduct|date=24 February 2011}}
In 2005, Judge William C. Koch Jr. cited an article written by Fox in the majority opinion in the case of Tennessee Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy v. Vanderbilt University.{{Cite web|url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/tn-court-of-appeals/1298138.html|work=FindLaw|title=TENNESSEE DIVISION OF THE UNITED DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY v. VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY}} Fox has also served as an advisor to the University of Miami School of Law's Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, a conference for estate planning professionals.{{Cite web|url=https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/real_property_trust_estate/heckerling/heckerling-2016-report.pdf|work=American Bar Association|title=50th Annual Philip E. Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning}} He chaired the Chartered Adviser in Philanthropy Program at The American College of Financial Services from 2008 to 2010.
In 2015, Fox was elected as a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, an exclusive professional society of attorneys and law professionals with expertise regarding trust and estates.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/potmsearch/detail/submission/4445821/Richard_Fox|work=Philadelphia Business News|title=PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION LEGAL SERVICES: Richard Fox}} A year later, in 2016, Fox led a project where H.F. Lenfest donated the Philadelphia Media Network, which owns The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philly.com to The Philadelphia Foundation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/rieder/2016/01/12/rieder-how-innovative-philly-newspaper-approach-took-shape/78696260/|work=USA Today|title=Rieder: How innovative Philly newspaper approach took shape}} Lenfest described Fox as the "architect of the deal."{{Cite web|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20160112_Lenfest_donates_newspapers__website_to_new_media_institute.html|title= Lenfest donates newspapers, website to new media institute|date= 11 January 2016}}{{Cite web|url=https://knightfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/KF_PhillyNewsReport_Complete_V3.pdf|work=Knight Foundation|title=Could it be sunny in Philadelphia?}} Following the restructuring of the Philadelphia Media Network, Fox began advising other local newspapers to restructure as non-profits and serves as counsel to The Philadelphia Foundation. According to Steven Waldman, the president and co-founder of Report for America, there is "probably no lawyer out there who knows more about the intersection of local news and the nonprofit tax code [than Fox]."
Fox left Dilworth Paxson LLP. to become a shareholder at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney in 2016. While at Buchanan, Fox remained a legal force in Philadelphia. In 2017, he spearheaded efforts to expand the Community College of Philadelphia and during the COVID-19 pandemic he established and maintained an employee relief fund for employees at the Union League of Philadelphia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.inquirer.com/business/union-league-philadelphia-employee-relief-fund-covid-19-20200402.html|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|title=Why the Union League's fund for employees could be a model for others: 'They deserve it'|date=2 April 2020 }} In 2021, he worked with Report for America to help develop a bipartisan component in the Build Back Better Act to provide tax credits for local newspapers. Additionally, he was a consultant for the writing of the Local Journalism Sustainability Act.
In 2022, Fox announced that after six years at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, he would be leaving to start his own solo practice: The Law Offices of Richard L. Fox. In this capacity, Fox is better able to focus on his niche speciality of estate and philanthropic planning while having direct control over fees and hourly rates. In a statement Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney said that they “anticipate continuing to collaborate with Richard as he moves to this new phase in his career.”
Judge Emin Toro writing for the United States Tax Court cited Fox's treatise Charitable Giving: Taxation, Planning, and Strategies in the 2023 case Gerhardt v. IRS.{{Cite web|url=https://www.taxnotes.com/research/federal/court-documents/court-opinions-and-orders/annuity-distributions-from-crats-taxable-as-ordinary-income/7gkh0|work=Tax Notes|title=Annuity Distributions From CRATs Taxable as Ordinary Income}}
=Writings=
Fox is the author of Charitable Giving: Taxation, Planning, and Strategies, a legal treatise, published in 2008, on charitable giving and retirement plans.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dgqfPgAACAAJ|title=Charitable Giving: Taxation, Planning, and Strategies|first=Richard|last=Fox|date=2008|publisher=Thomson Reuters|isbn=9780791367940|via=Google Books}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/giving/11UNDO.html|work=The New York Times|title=Foundations With a Limited Life|date=11 November 2010|last1=Jacobs|first1=Deborah L.}}
He is also a co-author of the 2012 book, Preserving a Home for Veterans, which chronicles Fox and others, who took on the Department of Veterans Affairs for leasing parts of property, donated to veterans, to private entities such as oil drillers.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=psO4NAEACAAJ|title=Preserving a Home for Veterans|first=Lauren|last=Bon|date=2012|publisher=Metabolic Studio|isbn=9781934254301|via=Google Books}}
Fox sits on the advisory board and serves as an author for Estate Planning magazine, which is published by Thomson Reuters.{{Cite journal|url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=566964|journal=Social Science Research Network|title=Is a Basis Step-Up Available on Foundation Founders Death?|date=21 July 2004|ssrn=566964|last1=Fox|first1=Richard L.}} He is also a frequent legal commentator for Bloomberg News, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Leimberg Information Services.{{Cite web|url=https://authors.bloombergtax.com/richard-fox-esq-h2978/|work=Bloomberg News|title=Our Experts: Richard Fox Esq.}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.inquirer.com/business/vince-fumo-excise-taxes-irs-fraud-citizens-alliance-20210526.html|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|title=Former State Sen. Vincent Fumo loses legal round in long-running tax battle over his abuse of South Philly nonprofit|date=26 May 2021 }} In addition, he has provided legal commentary to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-popular-charitablegiving-perk-expires-1391548528|work=The Wall Street Journal|title=Charitable Perk Expires|date=9 February 2014 |last1=Greene |first1=Kelly }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/04/22/chicago-reader-free-speech-goodman/|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=A fight over a vaccine column could kill one of the oldest alt-weeklies}}
References
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:20th-century American lawyers
Category:21st-century American lawyers