Obituary — Richard H. Nicholls

Richard H. Nicholls, 70, a nationally recognized tax attorney in the municipal bond market who was a mentor to many bond lawyers, died March 14 after a 10-year battle with cancer.

Mr. Nicholls, of Stamford, Conn., spent more than 30 years of his 40-year career at Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon, and headed its tax department before the firm was dissolved in 1995. After that, he was of counsel to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe through 2004.

He did a great deal of pro bono work for the American Bar Association and the National Association of Bond Lawyers. He chaired the ABA's tax-exempt financing committee and was a director of NABL, winning its Bernard P. Friel Award for distinguished service in public finance.

NABL's quarterly publication, The Bond Lawyer, called him "the tax lawyer's tax lawyer." Colleagues say he was brilliant, insightful, creative, and irreverent when the occasion called for it. They said that while he had an encyclopedic memory, he could say more with fewer words than anyone else they knew.

"Rich was an extraordinary lawyer, setting the standard to which so many other lawyers in the municipal finance profession aspired," said Richard Chirls, a partner at Orrick. "He was also an amazing teacher, providing guidance and knowledge to dozens of tax lawyers who learned from him how to do it the right way. Most of the lawyers who were trained by Rich are still practicing today, serving as an ongoing testament to his life's work."

"He was a brilliant attorney and a great person and I was fortunate to have him as a teacher," said Margaret "Peg" Henry, associate general counsel at the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

Mr. Nicholls was an avid sailor, skier, swimmer, and a former captain of his college swim team. He was a long-time member of the Stamford Yacht Club and loved competitive racing on his boat, Rhiannon.

He graduated with a bachelor's degree, cum laude, from Amherst College in 1960. He received his law degree from Stamford Law School in 1963 and a master's degree in taxation from New York University in 1964.

Devoted to his late wife, Anne, and the rest of his family, he is survived by his children, Jamie Nicholls Biondi and Christopher Nicholls, their spouses Fran and Yvonne, six grandchildren, and his first wife and the mother of his children, Judy Cormier.

A private gathering of friends will be held in late April to remember and honor Mr. Nicholls. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his honor to the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy (attn: Betty Tucker), University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 West Markham St., Slot 816, Little Rock, AK, 72205.

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