Mayor Williams to Lead New Government Relations State & Municipal Practice

WASHINGTON, May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Arent Fox LLP is proud to announce the former Mayor of Washington, DC, Anthony A. Williams, has joined the firm in our Washington office. Mayor Williams will establish and lead a new practice dedicated to state and municipal finance and management. Mr. Williams, who served two terms as Mayor of the District of Columbia from 1999 to 2007, is a recognized national leader in municipal innovation and governance. He is widely credited with bringing the nation's capital back from the brink of insolvency and establishing the District of Columbia as a model of economic stability and development for cities across the nation.

"It is tremendously exciting that Mayor Williams is joining our growing government relations practice," said Arent Fox Chairman Marc Fleischaker. "Cities and states across the country will have access to the most innovative thinking on municipal finance and management issues."

As Director of the State and Municipal Practice, Mayor Williams will advise Arent Fox clients in the increasingly complex fiscal, management and economic relationships between the federal, state and local governments. Mayor Williams has often said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has in many ways fundamentally altered the relationship between the national and local governments.

"One of the primary reasons I chose to join Arent Fox is the firm's commitment to establishing a state and municipal practice that is national in scope and which will advise state and local governments that are facing financial distress in a remarkably challenging economic period," said Mayor Williams. "As the former Mayor of the nation's capital and a former President of the of the National League of Cities, I will be able to bring to our clients a unique understanding of how the various levels of government intersect with one another and how those complex interactions affect businesses and citizens."

Mayor Williams continued: "Arent Fox is the perfect fit for me. Working with the various other practice groups at the firm, such as our real estate practice and our financial restructuring team, the Arent Fox State & Municipal practice is ideally positioned to offer state and local governments a broad, comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to some of the most complex public management issues facing American state and local governments, including tax matters, fiscal policy, and growth and development issues."

Anthony Williams has dedicated more than 30 years of his life to public service. He was first elected to office in 1980 when, as an undergraduate student at Yale University, he successfully campaigned for a seat on the New Haven, Connecticut Board of Aldermen, where he was later elevated to a leadership position by his peers, serving as President Pro Tempore.

He later served as Deputy State Comptroller of Connecticut and then as Assistant Director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority. In 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated Mayor Williams to serve as the first Chief Financial Officer for the US Department of Agriculture, where, following his confirmation by the US Senate, he was responsible for the fiscal leadership of an enterprise that in the private sector would be the equivalent to the sixth largest company in the United States.

Following his tenure at the Agriculture Department, Mayor Williams was appointed Chief Financial Officer for the District of Columbia in 1995, enforcing fiscal discipline and turning budget deficits into a surplus. Washington, DC voters recognized Mr. Williams' performance as CFO by electing him mayor in 1998 and re-electing him in 2002. While in office, Mayor Williams was elected President of the National League of Cities by his fellow mayors.

In December 2006, on the eve of Mr. Williams' last day as mayor, Washington Post Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Colbert I. King wrote: "Tony Williams was the District's most successful mayor of the home rule era. He came on the scene at the right time and with the right skill sets to help the District through one of its worst patches in 100 years. On his watch, the District underwent its most profound transformation in generations."

In 2007, Mayor Williams helped found and served as CEO of Primum Public Realty Trust, a real estate entity that partnered to provide counties, cities, states, and not-for-profit corporations with alternative funding sources for vital projects and programs that would have otherwise gone unfunded.

Mayor Williams is a graduate of Harvard Law School and holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

About Arent Fox

Arent Fox LLP (www.arentfox.com), with offices in Washington, DC, New York and Los Angeles, is a recognized leader in areas including intellectual property, real estate, health care, life sciences and complex litigation. With nearly 350 lawyers nationwide, Arent Fox has extensive experience in government relations, corporate securities, financial restructuring, bankruptcy, labor and employment, finance, tax, corporate compliance, and the global business market. The firm represents Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, trade associations, foreign governments and other entities.

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