Robert A. Rizzi

Robert "Bob" Rizzi advises domestic and multinational businesses on the federal and state income tax aspects of corporate and partnership transactions, helping clients structure mergers and acquisitions (M&A), reorganizations, spin-offs and workouts efficiently. Based in Washington, D.C., he draws on more than four decades of tax planning experience in the financial services, telecommunications, real estate, technology and hospitality sectors, primarily in international markets.

Bob guides clients through the tax considerations that shape complex business transactions. He provides tax advice and structuring for middle-market and private equity transactions in the U.S. and abroad, and he advises multinational high-net-worth families on transactional, tax planning and cross-border matters.

A distinct part of his practice involves vetting presidential appointees, an area in which he has 20 years of experience. Bob has represented at least 100 presidential appointees, including Cabinet and subcabinet members, administrators and commissioners of various agencies and numerous ambassadorial appointees in Democratic and Republican administrations. He has also worked on vice presidential vetting and worked closely with the presidential transition teams of three administrations, helping nominees navigate the scrutiny that accompanies high-level public service.

His teaching and writing reflect a deep engagement with corporate tax law. Bob is the editor of three chapters of the Bittker & Eustice treatise Federal Income Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders and has written the bimonthly column "Corporate Organizations and Reorganizations" for the Journal of Corporate Taxation since 1986. He was also a founding editor of Mergers and Acquisitions, The Monthly Tax Journal.

He has taught corporate taxation at The George Washington University Law School and The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, as well as real estate taxation and bankruptcy taxation in an LL.M. program at Golden Gate University School of Law. Bob also co-teaches a course on government ethics at Harvard Law School.

Before joining Holland & Knight, he was an attorney at an international law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. His blend of transactional tax experience and government ethics experience gives clients perspective on deal structuring and high-stakes public service.