Baker & McKenzie appoints Duane Webber as Chair of Global Tax

Baker & McKenzie’s top brass met in London yesterday and announced various leadership changes. Eduardo Leite continues to lead the Firm, having had 2 year extension to his position as Chairman.

In terms of  Global Practice & Industry Group chairs, Duane Webber in Washington office got the top job in tax, which he will hold for a 3 year period.

Mr. Webber concentrates on tax litigation and a broad spectrum of international and domestic tax matters. He works on the resolution of federal income tax controversies with the IRS, including a wide variety of alternative dispute resolution techniques, as well as all administrative phases of a controversy through litigation. He has handled cases involving a wide variety of domestic and international issues, including issues relating to Subpart F income, insurance, captive insurance, consolidated returns, inventory and tax accounting, among others.

Representative Legal Matters:

• America Online, Inc. v. United States, 64 Fed. Cl. 571 (Ct. Fed. Cl. 2005), on appeal at Docket No. 05-5138 (Fed. Cir.) (overpayment of Federal excise tax for services provided by telecommunications providers).
• AppleComputer, Inc. v. Commissioner, US Tax Court Docket No. 17759-95 (whether assembly of personal computers CFC in Ireland constituted “manufacturing” for purposes of subpart F of the Code and other issues)
• AppleComputer, Inc. v. Commissioner, US Tax Court Docket No. 5496-93 (disallowance of entire research tax credit and other issues).
• AristrainInt’l Inc. v. Commissioner, US Tax Court Docket No. 20134-91 (allocations of income from non-US corporation to its US subsidiary relating to distribution activities).
  AstraUSA, Inc. v. Commissioner, US Tax Court Docket Nos. 5565-97 & 10962-98 (issues relating to capitalization of marketing and distributing costs, valuation of intangible property, research tax credits, transfer pricing, and other matters).
• Bausch & Lomb Incorporated v. Commissioner, 71 T.C.M. (CCH) 2031 (1996) (whether assembly of sunglasses by CFCs in Ireland and Hong Kong constituted “manufacturing” for purposes of subpart F of the Code and other issues).