Caplin & Drysdale taps John Klotsche to launch Alternative Dispute Resolution tax practice
John C. Klotsche, a private sector tax litigator and former Senior Advisor to the IRS Commissioner, is joining the Washington, D.C. law firm Caplin & Drysdale as a Member. Mr. Klotsche will join the firm’s Tax Controversy practice group and will spearhead the launch of a new practice area, ADRTax, specializing in Alternative Dispute Resolution of tax matters.
“We are thrilled to have John join our tax group. He brings deep experience from the private sector specializing in high profile federal tax controversy matters, followed by his involvement in major public sector tax enforcement matters,” said Scott D. Michel, firm President. “His blend of private and public experience in the field of tax controversy and enforcement provides a unique platform to lead the way in building a tax-focused ADR practice, and we are excited to have him bring innovative thinking and expertise to our clients.”
Mr. Klotsche practiced for three decades with the international law firm Baker & McKenzie specializing in international tax controversy matters and served as counsel in landmark cases involving cross-border transfer pricing and a broad range of other international and domestic federal tax disputes. Mr. Klotsche concluded his career with Baker & McKenzie by serving for five years as full-time Chairman of its Executive Committee.
Mr. Klotsche then served 3-1/2 years as Senior Advisor to Mark Everson, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service. There he oversaw the Agency’s enforcement efforts to combat abusive tax shelters, which involved developing global settlement initiatives to resolve widespread, large-tax dollar abusive transactions; legislative solutions for submission to the Congressional tax writing Committees; protocols to allow simultaneous criminal and civil investigations and examinations of tax shelter matters; and civil and criminal enforcement tools to combat unethical and unprofessional activities of promoters of abusive tax shelters and their tax professionals.
Most recently, Mr. Klotsche served for one year as Senior International Advisor to the IRS Commissioner where he was the U.S. delegate and a member of the project team on the OECD Tax Intermediaries Project. This initiative examined the role of tax intermediaries (i.e., law and accounting firms, other tax advisors, and financial institutions) within tax systems and their impact on tax administration and enforcement. The Project’s overarching objective was to identify strategies for enhancing the relationships between tax intermediaries, corporate taxpayers, and revenue bodies, and the team’s recommendations were unanimously endorsed by the Commissioners of 45 participating countries in January 2008.
“Caplin & Drysdale has, over many years, built an exceptional national reputation as trusted tax advisors,” said Mr. Klotsche, “and I am pleased and excited to join their team. I believe the corporate tax community is anxious to move in a new direction and to a new business model to resolve tax disputes. Caplin & Drysdale will provide an outstanding platform to build a specialized ADRTax practice.”
ABOUT CAPLIN & DRYSDALE
Caplin & Drysdale is a Washington, D.C.-based law firm which provides a full range of tax and legal services to companies, organizations, and individuals throughout the United States and around the world. The firm also provides corporate law counseling, white collar defense, political activity law counseling, exempt organization counseling, and complex civil litigation services. Visit them at http://www.capdale.com/.