Kutak Rock is pleased to announce that attorney Richard Butterworth has joined its Corporate and Government Services Department in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Prior to joining Kutak Rock, Mr. Butterworth served as Senior Assistant General Counsel at the General Services Administration (GSA), where he worked for over 30 years. At GSA, he served as the chief counsel to the Public Buildings Service’s Offices of Real Property Utilization and Disposal and Energy Acquisition where he provided legal counsel on national policy and practice matters and direct legal support for complex transactions handled in GSA’s regional offices.

During his tenure with GSA, Mr. Butterworth provided counsel on legal authority, appropriations law and scoring implications of proposed exchanges and outleases. Mr. Butterworth assisted in the use of GSA contract vehicles for public-private partnership opportunities by other federal agencies, resulting in billions of dollars in such transactions. He was responsible for legal issues arising from unique energy acquisition contracts, such as utility area wide contracts, complex power purchase agreements and transactions involving individual Energy Saving Performance Contracts (ESPC) and Utility Energy Service Contracts (UESC). He served as agency counsel to many boards and committees upon which GSA served, including the Defense Environmental Response Task Force, the Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Federal Real Property Council, the Federal Utility Partnership Working Group, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Working Group.

"We are thrilled that Rich has chosen to join Kutak Rock and offer his unique expertise to support our governmental and private sector clients. Rich has been one of the go-to attorneys for federal agencies on a wide-range of public-private partnership and energy transactions, making him a key addition to our team,” said Seth D. Kirshenberg, Managing Partner of Kutak Rock’s Washington, D.C. office.

I am excited to work with Kutak Rock and to help our clients successfully develop, negotiate, and implement governmental projects,” noted Richard Butterworth. “Kutak Rock’s focus on client service and collaborative culture makes it a great fit for me. I look forward to expanding what is already a diversified, strong team of attorneys.

Mr. Butterworth’s expertise has been recognized with individual and project awards within GSA, and through commendations from the Secretary of Defense, the Secretaries of the individual military services, and the Secretary of Energy. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia, and a B.S. in political science and communications from James Madison University.