Pepper Hamilton nabs Ellen McElroy from EY to be Tax Partner in Washington Office
Pepper Hamilton LLP announced that Ellen McElroy, an experienced tax lawyer with significant experience in the IRS Chief Counsel Office, has joined the firm as a partner in the Washington office.
“Ellen is a welcome addition to our tax practice group,” said David A. Wormser, the partner in charge of Pepper’s Washington office. “She has a strong reputation as a national practitioner whose knowledge and experience cover the unique and difficult aspects of accounting methods, capitalization and repairs. We’re pleased that she has chosen to join Pepper.”
Ms. McElroy focuses her practice on a variety of issues involving accounting methods and inventories, particularly capitalization matters. As the author of regulations under Section 263A of the Internal Revenue Code, she is knowledgeable about cost capitalization relating to inventories and self-constructed assets. She also is conversant with the treatment of repairs and transaction costs, having been responsible for guidance under Section 263(a) of the Code. Ms. McElroy represents clients before the IRS National Office and the Department of Treasury with respect to these and other issues, and also represents clients in accounting method controversies before IRS Exam and Appeals.
“Pepper offers me a great opportunity to expand my practice,” said Ms. McElroy. “I am looking forward to adding a new dimension to the firm’s already strong tax practice and exploring the many opportunities the firm has to offer.”
Ms. McElroy joins Pepper from Ernst & Young in Washington, D.C., where she was a principal/partner in the Accounting Methods and Inventories Group of that firm’s National Tax Department, and led the transaction costs review practice for the firm. She represented many Fortune-rated companies, including national and international retailers, defense contractors, manufacturers, financial services institutions, insurance companies and health science companies.
Before joining Ernst & Young in 1997, Ms. McElroy served as legislation counsel for the Internal Revenue Service’s Office of Special Counsel (Legislation), where she developed and drafted legislative proposals and supervised Congressional investigations and GAO audits involving the IRS. She also was a senior attorney with the Income Tax and Accounting Division of the IRS, where she was the principal author of final regulations under the uniform capitalization rules and temporary regulations involving the deductibility of lobbying expenses.
Active in the legal community, Ms. McElroy is vice chair of the American Bar Association’s Tax Accounting Committee and has served as chair of its Capitalization Subcommittee. She is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center.
Ms. McElroy is a graduate of Emory University (B.B.A. 1982) and the University of Denver College of Law (J.D. 1988), where she was the general editor of the Law Review. She received an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1993. She is a member of the Colorado bar and is in the process of gaining admission to the bar of the District of Columbia.
About Pepper Hamilton
Pepper Hamilton LLP is a multi-practice law firm with 450 lawyers in seven states and the District of Columbia. The firm provides corporate, litigation and regulatory legal services to leading businesses, governmental entities, nonprofit organizations and individuals throughout the nation and the world. The firm was founded in 1890.
Pepper’s tax practice assists clients with proactive tax planning, including mergers and acquisitions, dispositions, public offerings, reorganizations, restructurings, liquidations and structured finance vehicles. The firm’s tax lawyers are integrally involved in the structure and formation of partnerships, and have significant experience in private equity funds, hedge funds, corporate spin-offs, accounting method changes and IRS controversy matters.