Reed Smith raids Dentons for senior tax partners – Hryck, Mason, Korenblatt and Geraghty move en masse again
Reed Smith LLP today announced the addition of a high-level team of three partners, one counsel and one economist from Dentons with a premier reputation in international tax and transfer pricing. The group is led by partner David Hryck, formerly U.S. Head of International Tax at Dentons, and includes partners Jeffrey Korenblatt and David Mason.
Hryck and Korenblatt join Reed Smith’s Tax, Benefits & Wealth Planning Group; Mason is a member of the firm’s Corporate & Securities Group. Hryck and Mason are resident in the firm’s New York office; Korenblatt is resident in Washington, D.C.
“This group complements the firm’s tax practice, and adds greater depth to our international tax capabilities,” said James Tandler, Chair of Reed Smith’s Tax, Benefits & Wealth Planning Practice. “Adding an entirely new transfer pricing practice to our international tax capability will benefit a broad range of Reed Smith clients. Transfer pricing is a highly specialized and increasingly important area of global commerce that we are happy to now be able to offer our clients.”
Prior to heading up Denton’s International Tax practice, Hryck was at DLA Piper. With more than 17 years of experience as a business advisor and tax lawyer, Hryck maintains a sophisticated international practice that advises international families, entertainers, high-net-worth individuals, and multinational companies on their business transactions and corporate structures.
“Reed Smith’s integrated global partnership structure, strong culture and focus on client service is exactly what we were seeking as a platform from which to service our clients, and it is the only way to truly meet their global legal and business needs,” said Hryck. “We are looking forward to practicing at this dynamic and forward-looking firm.”
Hryck received his J.D. cum laude from Thomas M. Cooley School of Law, an LL.M. in 1994 with high honors from Georgetown University Law Center, and his B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Scranton in 1989. He is on the board of the Amy Winehouse Foundation and Petra Nemcova’s Happy Hearts Fund, as well as being a World Fellow of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for Excellence Fund and the Duke’s Business Advisory Group. Hryck also serves on the board of the Lifeline Humanitarian Organization, founded by members of Yugoslavia’s royal family.
Korenblatt, previously a partner at Dentons and DLA Piper, brings more than 15 years of tax planning and transfer pricing experience to Reed Smith. A prolific writer and speaker in the international tax practice community, he advises taxpayers on the tax-efficient structuring of domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, spin-offs, redemptions and liquidations, as well as complex cross-border business structuring and supply chain management. An experienced transfer pricing practitioner, he focuses on advising clients regarding the ownership and utilization of intellectual property (including through the utilization of cost-sharing arrangements), and the optimization of intra-group service structures. He also guides the implementation of clients’ multi-jurisdictional financing and the use of special purpose foreign entities. He is well-versed in maximizing the use of foreign tax credits and minimizing the effects of anti-deferral regimes.
Korenblatt is a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Law, and received his B.S.F.S, cum laude, from Georgetown University.
Mason was also a partner at Dentons in New York, prior to which he was counsel at DLA Piper from 2006 to 2012. Before joining DLA Piper, he was an associate at both Sullivan & Worcester and Clifford Chance. With a practice focus on transactional matters – including M&A, capital markets, private equity, and corporate governance and strategic advising for start-ups in technology, real estate, retail, entertainment and fashion – Mason has concentrated on serving high-net-worth individuals and celebrities with an international presence. He also has experience as outside general counsel and as a board member of international charities focusing on providing aid to children. He is a 1999 graduate of New York University School of Law, and a 1991 honors graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.
“Reed Smith’s expansion and development of the New York office is a firmwide strategic priority. We’re pleased to bring in this new team, the second from a major law firm in the last month,” said Edward Estrada, Reed Smith’s New York Managing Partner. “Increasingly, Reed Smith’s team approach to client service and our outstanding global platform are what high-level partners are looking for in order to provide seamless legal services to their clients. In addition, our New York office is growing rapidly and is an exciting place to work.”
Along with Hryck, Korenblatt and Mason, the team includes Sheila M. Geraghty, counsel, whose practice focuses on international tax and transfer pricing for multinational corporations; and, already reported on Tax Grotto, Theodor J. van Stephoudt, an economist, who provides assistance in the development of transfer pricing documentation, the planning of appropriate intercompany prices, and the valuation of assets for tax purposes. Geraghty and van Stephoudt will be resident in Reed Smith’s New York office.
Tax Grotto reported in Feb 2012 that Hryck, Korenblatt, Mason and Geraghty moved as a team from DLA Piper to SNR Denton (as was): /2012/02/16/david-hryck-joins-snr-denton-from-dla-piper-as-the-new-us-head-of-international-tax/