About Us

Our Firm

We have been providing our clients with legal advice and representation since our firm was founded in 1981. We have expertise in wide variety of fields, but regardless of the subject matter our philosophy has always been to understand our clients’ needs and goals, to provide them with the highest level of legal counsel and representation, and to protect and advance their interests.

Our practice areas include business law and transactions, estate planning, estate and trust administration, government relations, litigation, private client representation, tax,and white collar criminal defense. We also represent private and public national and international businesses, institutions, associations, and nonprofit organizations. Our attorneys are involved with a number of civic, community and charitable projects, initiatives and non-profit organizations.

Partners

attorneyFrederick D. Cooke, Jr. represents individuals, businesses and organizations in legislative matters before the Council of the District of Columbia and, with respect to regulatory matters, before District departments, agencies and commissions. Additionally, Mr. Cooke represents  clients in litigation before the Superior Court, the D.C. Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Court, and the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Cooke served as Corporation Counsel (now Attorney General) for the District of Columbia from 1987 to 1990. In this capacity, he served as the chief legal officer for all of the legal work for the government of  the District of Columbia. Previously, he practiced in a large Washington law firm. Mr. Cooke’s early legal career included service as a captain in the Judge-Advocate General Corps of the United States Air Force from 1973 to 1977.

Practice Specialties

Corporate Law
Government Relations
Municipal Law
Real Estate and Land Use

Admissions

District of Columbia Court of Appeals
District of Columbia Superior Court
U.S. District Court of District of Columbia
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

dc lawyer

Max Riederer von Paar joined Rubin, Winston, Diercks, Harris & Cooke, L.L.P. in 2004. He is a member of the District of Columbia, New York and Virginia bars.

He received his law degree at the Freie Universität in Berlin in 1992, passed the German bar examination in Munich in 1995, and received an LL.M. from George Washington University Law School in 1996, with emphasis on international business transactions and tax law.

His practice focuses on assisting international clients in navigating the various applicable legal and tax systems.  Mr. Riederer von Paar advises foreign trust companies and family offices on US taxation and specializes in international income and estate tax planning for individuals and international families. He also assists clients with international business transactions, international litigation (with a focus on the representation of foreign sovereigns) and tax compliance for international taxpayers.

Mr. Riederer von Paar serves as outside general counsel for the German Embassy and he represents the Federal Republic of Germany and its entities.

Practice Specialties

International Estate and Tax Planning
Tax Compliance
Asset Protection Planning
International Business Transactions
International Litigation
Corporate (including cross-border mergers and acquisitions)

Bar Admissions

New York
Virginia
District of Columbia

Education

Law degree, Freie Universität, Berlin, 1992
LL.M. The George Washington University, 1996 (emphasis on international business transactions and tax law)

Professional & Civic Affiliations

Society of Trust and Estate Planners (STEP)
International Bar Association, Section on Wealth Transfer
Wealth Counsel
Virginia Bar Association
District of Columbia Bar Association
International Bar Association Private Client Tax Committee

Steven Stone has been with the firm since becoming an attorney. He is a legal advisor, business strategist, conservationist and philanthropist. A trusted advisor and confidant to his clients, Steven brings broad legal experience, deep intuition and a skill for creative strategic planning in a variety of contexts.

As a partner in Rubin Winston Diercks Harris & Cooke, Mr. Stone advises high net worth individuals and families on a variety of matters including estate planning, wealth protection and transfer strategies, charitable giving and personal legal and business matters.  He often acts as general counsel with clients’ investment, tax, insurance and other attorneys and advisors.

Mr. Stone began his legal career with representation of commercial real estate lenders and developers. For many years he represented television and radio station owners on regulatory and business matters, and has negotiated and managed mergers, acquisitions and asset dispositions for numerous transactions, primarily of television and radio station groups.

Mr. Stone  received his B.A. from the George Washington University and his J.D. from the Catholic University of America, where he was an editor the Journal of Contemporary Health Law & Policy. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Maryland and New York.

Practice Specialties

Private Client Services
Estates and Trusts
Business Law

Admissions

District of Columbia
Maryland
New York

Professional & Civic Affiliations

Mr. Stone’s primary charitable interests are international species conservation and ending the illegal wildlife trade. He supports organizations and initiatives that advance these causes, individually, through the Stone Charitable Trust, and in partnership with others.  He also helps to raise awareness of these causes and has helped to support workshops, initiatives and programs, and to identify innovative solutions where possible.  In addition to traveling extensively in Africa and Asia, Mr. Stone has served on the boards and advisory boards of a number of non-profit organizations.

Of Counsel

Walter DWalter E. Diercks,  a partner in the firm since 1981 and Of Counsel since 2025, advises clients on business matters with an emphasis on new and legacy media and intellectual property. Mr. Diercks also represents clients in complex civil and white collar criminal litigation in federal and state courts, both at the trial and appellate levels.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Diercks was General Counsel and Secretary of the Washington Star newspaper serving as Deputy Assistant Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Jeff HJeffrey Harris served for many years as Managing Partner. His practice focuses on domestic and international civil and commercial.

Following law school and service in the U.S. Navy in Southeast Asia, Mr. Harris served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York;  Advisor to U.S. Attorney General Edward Levi; Deputy Chief Counsel to the House of Representatives’ Committee on Standards of Official Conduct investigating the Korean influence in the United States (Koreagate);  Assistant Director for Marketing Abuses at the Federal Trade Commission; Deputy Associate Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice; Principal Assistant to the Associate Attorney General, and as Acting Associate Attorney General.

Prior to joining the Firm as a partner,  Mr. Harris was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Capital Bank.

Eric REric M. Rubin, a co-founder of the Firm has represented clients in First and Fifth Amendment litigation; and advertising and trade regulation.

Mr. Rubin is generally acknowledged as the nation’s leading authority on outdoor advertising law, and he is recognized for developing outdoor advertising as a distinct area of media law. In 2005, he received the Miles Standish Award, the Outdoor Advertising Association of America’s highest honor, for extraordinary contributions to outdoor advertising over the course of his career.

Prior to establishing the firm with Mr. Winston, Mr. Rubin was a partner at a large U.S. law firm; served as Assistant Director for Compliance in the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission; Assistant to the Chair of the New York State Public Service Commission; an attorney at the Executive Office of the U.S. President, and attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal and Antitrust Division.

Retired

J winstonJames L. Winston, a co-founder of the Form, represented clients on communications matters, specializing in broadcast and wireless issues until his retirement in 2024.  For many years he was recognized by Radio Ink as one of the most influential African-Americans in broadcasting.

Prior to establishing the Firm with Mr. Rubin, Mr. Winston served as legal advisor to FCC Commissioner Robert E. Lee; as an associate at two large U.S. law firms; and associate counsel of Western Union Telegraph Company.

In addition to his law practice, since 1982 Mr. Winston has served as executive director and general counsel, then president, of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (now under the umbrella of the U.S. Black Chambers), advocating for Black media owners in radio, television and digital media.