Nixon Peabody LLP Expands Tax Expertise in Washington D.C
International law firm Nixon Peabody LLP is expanding its public finance practice with the addition of Gary Bornholdt. Mr. Bornholdt is a tax lawyer who has served for the past four years as Legislation Counsel to the Joint Committee on Taxation. He will join the firm on July 30, 2008, as counsel based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office and will specialize in tax-exempt bond, tax legislative and audit matters.At the Joint Committee on Taxation, Mr. Bornholdt worked closely with the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee developing and analyzing tax legislative proposals, including numerous proposals enacted into law relating to tax-exempt bonds, tax incentives for energy, transportation, and housing, and tax compliance. Prior to the Joint Committee, Mr. Bornholdt was a senior attorney in the Tax-Exempt Bond Branch of the IRS. While at the IRS, Mr. Bornholdt drafted published guidance, private letter rulings, and technical advice memoranda relating to a variety of tax-exempt bond issues, including arbitrage, private use, advance refundings, exempt facilities, and 501(c)(3) financings. While serving in the IRS’s national office, he also was responsible for coordinating the settlement of tax-exempt bond enforcement cases and for the preparation and presentation of tax-exempt bond declaratory judgment cases before the United States Tax Court. Mr. Bornholdt began his career as a trial attorney with the IRS where he was responsible for all aspects of tax controversy, including representing the IRS before the Tax Court.
Arthur F. McMahon, Jr., the firm’s Public Finance Group Leader, said, “We are excited to continue to develop and grow our practice of advising clients on tax policy and legislative issues, and are delighted to have a tax lawyer of Gary’s skill and experience join our team. The addition of Gary to our existing team of experienced public finance tax lawyers gives us a tax team with unmatched capabilities. Given the continuing presence of IRS audits of tax-exempt bonds and the growing number of clients coming to us for help in this area, Gary will also provide us with considerable additional tax controversy expertise.”
Mitch Rapaport, a tax partner in Nixon Peabody’s Washington, D.C. office, added, “Gary’s tax policy and legislative experience at Joint Committee will be invaluable as tax policy decisions in Washington are expected to have an increasing impact in the public finance arena and as more of our clients come to us for assistance on legislative and regulatory matters. In addition, with an increasing amount of our work focused on IRS audits, Gary will be an important part of the service we provide our clients.”
Mr. Bornholdt earned a LLM in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center and his J.D. from Hofstra University.
About Nixon Peabody’s Public Finance Practice
Nixon Peabody’s Public Finance Group has earned a national reputation for innovative work in the financing of a wide range of municipal and infrastructure projects. The firm has one of the largest public finance practices in the U.S. and regularly ranks among the most active bond and underwriter counsels nationally in dollar value of bonds issued. It is also widely recognized for the depth of its federal tax law experience. Nixon Peabody’s clients include state and local governments, underwriters, private placement agents, bond issuers, banks and corporate and not-for-profit obligors. Nixon Peabody’s affiliate, the OmniCap Group LLC, provides a full range of services related to arbitrage rebate as well as providing investment advisory and consulting services primarily to state and local governments and non-profit corporations.
About Nixon Peabody
Nixon Peabody LLP is one of the largest law firms in the United States and is recognized by American Lawyer Media as a “Global 100” firm. With 700 attorneys collaborating across 25 major practice areas in 18 office locations, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Rochester, San Francisco, Shanghai, Silicon Valley and Washington D.C., the firm’s size, diversity, and advanced technological resources enable it to offer comprehensive legal services to individuals and organizations of all sizes in local, state, national, and international matters. Nixon Peabody has been recognized by FORTUNE magazine as one of its “100 Best Companies To Work For®” in 2008 for the third consecutive year. The firm has also been named to the Human Rights Campaign’s 2008 “Best Places To Work For GLBT Equality” list.