With a belief that a strong federal legal system is integral to a progressive society, Denis T. Rice became a lawyer because he has always been fascinated with the law and how it’s made. In 1954, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in public and international affairs from Princeton University and in 1959, he obtained a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Michigan. After this, he was admitted to practice law by the State Bar of California and the United States Supreme Court in 1960 and 1963, respectively. Mr. Rice started his career as an associate at Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro from 1959 to 1961. He then served as an associate at Howard & Prim from 1961 to 1963. He spent the majority of his career as principal and founding partner at Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin from 1964 to 2012. He became senior counsel in 2012 and continues to serve in this position. Outside of his primary appointments, Mr. Rice has sat on the board of directors for Ironstone Group Inc. and on the managing committee of the San Francisco Institute of Financial Services.
Civically, Mr. Rice served as a First Lieutenant in the artillery branch of the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1957. He has also served on several boards throughout his community in California. He was active with organizations such as the Digital Village Foundation, the Marin County Transit District, and was elected councilman and then mayor of the city of Tiburon, CA, from 1968 to 1972. With an expertise in international business law, civil litigation, securities law, venture capital, cyber space law, and corporate law, Mr. Rice has also been a contributor to articles and law reviews and has given presentations in his field around the world. As an accomplished lawyer, he was the first in his field to make a presentation to the American Bar Association on the subject of bitcoin in 2012. He also represented the heirs to the estate of Sally Stanford, a councilmember and former mayor of Sausalito, California.
Throughout his career, Mr. Rice has attributed his success to his former partner, Henry Howard, who co-founded his current firm. Looking toward the future, Mr. Rice plans to do more legal writing and venture into teaching part-time. He would also like to spend less time practicing law and offer his expertise as a mentor to young lawyers. In his spare time, Mr. Rice enjoys competitive and long distance swimming. In 1951, as a freshman at Princeton he broke the school record in the 440 swim freestyle.
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