Armin U. Kuder was a principal and founder of the firm.  Armin has retired from private practice.

Armin – or Rick – Kuder is the senior member of the firm, recognized as a leading family law attorney for more than forty years. In addition to practicing in the District and Maryland, Mr. Kuder has taught family law, lectured on numerous legal topics, and served as a mentor for many successful attorneys. Mr. Kuder is also one of only two arbitrators in the District of Columbia certified by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (Paul Smollar is the other).

Mr. Kuder has been in private practice since leaving the Office of the Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy in 1963. In 1978, he began this firm. The firm has been practicing in the three jurisdictions of the Washington Metropolitan Area since that time.

Mr. Kuder is a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. He has taught at the Columbus School of Law of the Catholic University of America and has lectured on various family law matters, including the role of taxes, bankruptcy, and pensions in divorce.  He has also presented programs on psychiatry and the law, and co-authored an article in APA Press’s 1996 Controversies in Managed Mental Health Care. Since 1968, Mr. Kuder has been named in every article identifying leading family lawyers in the prestigious Washingtonian Magazine.  He also has been named in The Best Lawyers in America since the publication’s inception.

During his career, Mr. Kuder has handled many high-profile cases at both the trial and appellate level. Mr. Kuder was trustee, and then Chairman, of the Clients’ Security Fund of the District of Columbia Bar between 1983 and 1991. He was the Chair of a Hearing Committee of D.C. Bar’s disciplinary system.  Mr. Kuder was a member of the Task Force on providing representation for the poor in the D.C. Family Court and has been a member of the family law committees of the American Bar Association, the Maryland Bar Association, and District of Columbia Bar. He is a member of the Maryland Bar Association, the Montgomery County (Maryland) Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar, the Bar Association of the District of Columbia and the American Bar Association.

Mr. Kuder has long been involved in community activities. He has held numerous positions in the Metropolitan Washington Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, and the National Arthritis Foundation since 1973. In 1993 and 1994, he served as chair of the National Arthritis Foundation, and today is a Trustee Emeritus for International Affairs.  Mr. Kuder was the first President of Arthritis and Rheumatism International, and Chairman of the National Health Agencies for the National Capital Area council in 1977-1978 and Secretary of the combined Health Appeal of the National Capital Area.  From 2000 to 2010, he served as a member of the International Steering Committee for the Bone and Joint Decade (2000-2010), an international effort to raise awareness of the burden of musculoskeletal disorders.  He was Chairman of the Board of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Marine Conservation, and served as Chairman of the Board, and is a Trustee Emeritus, of Hyde School, Bath, Maine.

Mr. Kuder is most proud of running his first marathon at age 64.  He sees it as important training for the rigors of a law practice.

Admitted to Practice

• Maryland, 1987
• United States Tax Court, 1985
• United States Court of Military Appeals, 1962
• District of Columbia, 1959

Education

• Harvard Law School, L.L.B., 1959
• Lafayette College, A.B., 1956

Professional Memberships

• American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Fellow
  • AAML Certified Arbitrator
• International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Fellow
• District of Columbia Bar
  • Trustee, and then Chairman of Clients’ Security Fund, 1983–1991
  • Chair, Hearing Committee for Board on Professional Responsibility, 1984–1990
  • Member, D.C. Bar Attorney-Client Arbitration Board
• Bar Association of the District of Columbia
  • Domestic Relations Committee, member
  • Family Section, member
  • Task Force on Providing Representation for the Poor, Family Law Division, member
• Maryland State Bar Association
• Montgomery County Bar Association
• American Bar Association

Awards

• Named in Washingtonian Magazine as one of Washington’s leading family lawyers, 1968–present
• Named in The Best Lawyers in America, 1983–present
• Featured by Laws.com on May 3, 2013
• Named a Top 100 Lawyer in America, February 2014

Publications and Presentations

• Chapter, “Legal Challenges of Divorce for Same-Sex Couples,” in Understanding the Legal Issues Surrounding Same Sex Marriage  (Thomson Reuters/Aspatore 2013), co-author: Marcia Kuntz.
• Article, “Who Decides What Is Medically Necessary?” in Controversies in Managed Mental Health Care (APA Press 1996), co-author: Marcia Kuntz.

Community Activities

• National Arthritis Foundation, since 1973
  • Chair of the Arthritis Foundation, 1993–1994
  • Trustee Emeritus for International Affairs, current
• Arthritis and  Rheumatism International, first President, 1977–1978
• Metropolitan Washington Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, since 1973
• National  Health Agencies for the National Capital Area Council, Chairman, 1977–1978
• Human Subjects Review Panel, National Institute of Mental Health, 1978–1983
• Combined Health Appeal of the National Capital Area, former Secretary
• International Steering Committee for the Bone and Joint Decade, member, 2000–2010
• Center for Marine Conservation, Director and Chairman of the Board, 1976–1986
• Hyde School, Bath, Maine, Chairman of the Board and Trustee Emeritus, 1988–1993
• D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program: Family Law Mentor