Blake Rubin and Andrea Whiteway join EY’s Tax Partnership Transactional Planning & Economics Group

EY has announced that Blake D. Rubin and Andrea M. Whiteway have joined the Tax Partnership Transactional Planning & Economics Group of Ernst & Young LLP. These two well-known practitioners will focus on providing tax advice related to partnership and real estate transactions.

“Blake and Andrea each come to EY with deep technical knowledge and experience that  will allow them to provide exceptional service by offering clients insights into their largest and most complex partnership, real estate and REIT issues,” said Eric Solomon, co-leader of the National Tax Department of Ernst & Young LLP. “Their deep sector knowledge, combined with the EY network of tax professionals, will allow them to help clients navigate our highly complex tax environment.

Rubin joins Ernst & Young LLP as a senior advisor. Prior to that, he was the Global Vice Chair of McDermott Will & Emery’s US & International Tax Group as well as head of its Washington Tax practice. Rubin practices in the area of federal taxation, with a particular emphasis on matters relating to partnership and real estate taxation. He has extensive experience structuring large partnership and real estate transactions, and he regularly represents several of the largest US real estate developers and owners in transactional matters. Over the course of Rubin’s career, he has held a number of high-profile positions, including with the Office of Tax Legislative Counsel, US Department of Treasury. He was also head of Arnold & Porter’s Tax practice. In addition to being a frequent author and lecturer, Rubin has chaired several bar association tax committees and has served as chair of several tax and real estate professional conferences. He is also the founder and president of the Washington, DC Center for Public Interest Tax Law, a not-for-profit corporation that provides pro bono representation to low income taxpayers before the US Tax Court. Rubin received a B.A. fromHaverford College; a J.D., cum laude and Order of the Coif from the University of Pennsylvania Law School; and an M.B.A., with distinction, from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Whiteway joins Ernst & Young LLP as a principal. Previously, she was a partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP where she headed the firm’s pass-throughs tax practice. She brings with her substantial experience in sophisticated tax planning involving the use of partnerships, including disposing of and acquiring real estate and operating businesses, structuring complex partnership transactions, evaluating real estate investment trust (REIT) tax status and tax structured dispositions of real estate involving REITs, and structuring and evaluating corporate acquisitions and mergers. Before joining McDermott Will & Emery LLP, Whiteway was a partner at Arnold & Porter and held tax roles at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Miles & Stockbridge and Arthur Andersen. She is widely recognized as a leader in the field and is a sought-after speaker and author. Whiteway was the first woman to serve as chair of the Real Estate Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation and currently serves as Chair of the Federal Taxation of Real Estate Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trusts and Estates. She is an active member of Urban Land Institute, serves on the Tax Policy Advisory Committee of the Real Estate Roundtable, and is a member of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. In addition, she is the executive director of the Washington, DC Center for Public Interest Tax Law. She received a B.A. fromCornell University, a J.D. with honors from The University of Maryland and an LL.M in taxation, with distinction, from Georgetown University Law Center.