Most Highly Regarded Firms: Texas 2008 - Corporate Tax
Research for this chapter has identified 23 leaders in corporate tax law from 13 firms.
Specialisation of the lawyers in this list varies: some focus on direct taxation; others focus on indirect taxes. Some who concentrate purely on transfer pricing or tax issues deriving from mergers, acquisitions and dispositions have also been selected, as have general tax lawyers.
Baker Botts LLP has four entries in our tax chapter this year, all of whom are based in the firm's Houston office. Benjamin Wells leads in terms of nominations and chairs the firm's tax department. Wells focuses on federal income tax with a growing concentration on cross-border issues and is well versed in tax planning for American companies operating abroad. Representative matters include the $1.5 billion business combination between Battle Mountain Gold and Canada's Hemlo Gold, involving the issuance of "exchangeable shares". Gray Jennings also has a cross-border element to his practice, among other things he has acted on transactions from and into Canada and Mexico. He has also taught courses in tax accounting and financial transactions at the University of Houston Law Center. The "fantastic" Gregory Nelson focuses on federal income tax, particularly in the energy and real estate sectors (clients include Halliburton and Reliant Energy). Stuart Schaffer is a new addition to this publication; he received much praise during the research. Schaffer's tax practice includes particular knowledge in planning and structuring international joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, project investments, investment funds and financings and he has worked on projects around the globe.
Fulbright & Jaworski LLP provides three practitioners for this chapter. John Allender heads the tax department and "belongs on this list". Allender's niche is federal income taxation and he is a frequent speaker in this area. Charles Hall is of counsel to the firm and its senior tax practitioner. Hall has handled complex tax matters for many of the firm's major clients and is well known for his tax litigation work. Richard Coston's practice has a focus on partnerships, the tax aspects of oil and gas and project finance transactions and has served as chair of the ABA section on taxation's natural resources committee.
Vinson & Elkins LLP is another Texas firm turned international player and fields two highly rated practitioners in this chapter. Edward Osterberg chairs the international and transactional group of the firm's tax section and is highly regarded by his peers. Osterberg is the president of the International Tax Forum of Houston and a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel. His national and international practice has seen him advise on the $4.4 billion restructuring of a joint venture between a major oil company and a power company covering projects in the US and Canada. He also advised a Canadian subsidiary of a UK company on multiple acquisitions of US power projects. Thomas Crichton is co-head of the tax section and like Osterberg deals with both domestic and international matters. Crichton has represented publicly traded and privately held energy companies and funds in structuring domestic and international energy investments, both directly and through joint ventures as well as representing a large, publicly traded, international energy company in administrative appeals proceedings with IRS.
International firm Baker & McKenzie LLP also fields two lawyers in this chapter. David Glickman is a prolific author and speaker and has handled numerous controversy matters with the Internal Revenue Service. Susan Stone is another "active" speaker and author. She is an expert on the structuring of inbound and outbound transactions for US and foreign clients and the implementing of global and regional tax minimisation strategies. Her practice focuses on the structuring of foreign oil, gas, energy and related infrastructure projects with energy-related multinational companies as clients.
Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP has one more representative in this chapter this year: Daniel Leightman. He is well known among his peers after "a wonderful career at Cooper Industries" where he served as a vice president for tax. Cym Lowell has a "good reputation", highlighted by a client list that includes big names like eBay, Nintendo and Sony. He is particularly well versed in international transfer pricing for income taxation and customs dutiable value purposes.
Thomas Ford represents Andrews Kurth LLP here, and was described by one source as the "undisputed heavyweight of Texas tax law". Ford has experience in almost every area of tax and extensive understanding of section 29 of the Internal Revenue Code, advising clients and structuring transactions based on these rules. He is joined in this edition by Robert McNamara, "a really strong practitioner". McNamara's practice includes assisting publicly traded partnerships and clients in the energy industry in domestic taxation of business transactions.
Thompson & Knight LLP can boast the inclusion of the "very good" David Wheat. Regarded by his peers as "formidable", Wheat is widely known as "one of the best around". He has served as special tax counsel in the reincorporation of a multinational company to the Cayman Islands and has structured advice and tax opinion for a number of public spin-offs. Roger Aksamit joined Thompson & Knight from Bracewell & Giuliani LLP and is especially good at counselling clients in the energy industry on their tax matters, working on many power generation and distribution development, financings and acquisitions.
Bracewell & Giuliani LLP retains a strong presence in this edition thanks to the inclusion of Joe Hull, whose broad practice includes federal, state and local taxation and both planning and controversy work. Hull is a former chair of the American Bar Association section of taxation and a "very strong" opponent in the eyes of one competitor.
Barksdale Hortenstine from Ernst & Young "ought to be top of anyone's list", according to one fellow nominee. Hortenstine is "first rate" for partnerships in structured financings, large corporate acquisitions, dispositions and global strategic alliances. His "top notch" partnerships work was singled out by many that we spoke to.
Vester Hughes from K&L Gates LLP was described to us by one source as "a titan" and by another as "pre-eminent". Hughes has argued two cases before the United States Supreme Court and has successfully lobbied Congress on behalf of clients to amend the federal tax laws.
Paul Asofsky heads the tax group at Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP. Competitors regard him as "extremely good" in the areas of private investment partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, real estate investments and bankruptcy and debt restructuring. Clients include such names as HM Capital Partners and RealNetworks.
Dennis Drapkin is a resident of the
Dallas office of Jones Day. A past chair of the ABA section of taxation, Drapkin and his broad tax practice has seen him cover a variety of transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions, restructurings and financings. Clients include JC Penney Company, Omnicom Group and Albertsons.
John (Jack) Townsend from Townsend & Jones LLP is a new addition to this publication. The focus of Townsend's practice is federal income tax controversy matters, which has seen him appear in a variety of issues before the US Tax Court, District Court (including Bankruptcy Courts), Claims Court, most of the Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court.