Baker Hostetler announces tax team move from Gelt & Grassgreen P.C
Baker Hostetler announced today the expansion of its Denver office and its Tax Practice with the addition of Theodore Z. Gelt, who joins as Of Counsel, associate Kristen L. Sweat and staff attorney Daniela Ronchetti. All three were most recently with Gelt & Grassgreen P.C. Additionally, Cole A. Wist and Hugh C. Thatcher have joined the firm’s Employment Practice as partner and associate, respectively. Both were formerly with Patton Boggs LLP.
The addition of these attorneys is the most recent in a series of strategic hires by Baker Hostetler to expand its Denver presence and increase the national platform for its Tax and Employment practices. With over 80 attorneys across the firm’s 10 offices, Baker Hostetler is among the largest law firm tax practices in the nation and is ranked among the Top Employment Law firms by Workforce Management magazine, counseling many of the nation’s leading companies on all aspects of workplace law.
Mr. Gelt, who has practiced law in Colorado for over 30 years, specializes in the field of taxation, providing clients with expert and innovative guidance for sophisticated corporate and partnership transactions; tax controversy, estate, and business planning; real estate; and estate and trust administration.
A fellow in the College of Tax Lawyers, Mr. Gelt is widely regarded as one of the premier tax attorneys in the Rocky Mountain region. In addition to hundreds of public lecture appearances throughout the country to lawyers and accountants, Mr. Gelt has taught in the Graduate Tax Program at the University of Denver School of Law since 1976.
Jeffrey Paravano, firmwide Chair of Baker Hostetler’s Tax Group, commenting on the addition to the Denver office’s tax department, said: “These additions, combined with our other recent lateral hires in our Washington, D.C., office, strengthen our ability to offer effective, practical judgment and technical advice to our clients across the full range of taxation issues.”
Mr. Wist and Mr. Thatcher counsel clients on occupational/mine safety and health law, including OSHA and MSHA inspections, enforcement actions and liability prevention. Each also defends employers in accident and disaster investigations and related litigation matters. Mr. Wist also engages in a national complex civil litigation practice, including toxic tort, product liability, insurance, and mortgage loan repurchase litigation.
“In these uncertain economic times, when organizations are restructuring or downsizing, it is somewhat of an ‘anti-trend’ to add the equivalent of 15 percent of your workforce,” said Raymond Sutton, Jr., Managing Partner of Baker Hostetler’s Denver office. “Baker Hostetler’s strong financial position and conservative management allows us to pursue our strategic objective of selectively attracting top legal talent to our ten offices around the country. While the legal business is not immune to the economic pressures our country and the world are facing, this is an opportune time to increase our strength in two practice areas where demand is not likely to decline.”
About Baker Hostetler
Founded more than 90 years ago in 1916, Baker Hostetler is among the nation’s 100 largest law firms with 600 attorneys coast to coast. The firm has offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Costa Mesa, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando and Washington, D.C. Its four primary practice groups are Business, Employment, Litigation and Tax. For more information, visit the firm’s Web site at www.bakerlaw.com.