Practice/Organization Description
Morrison & Foerster was the first large law firm in the country to build a dedicated State + Local Tax (“SALT”) practice and the first to extend that practice to representing clients in states throughout the country. Indeed, there are only three annual national awards given for excellence in state and local tax practice: one by Tax Management, Inc.; one by the Council on State Taxation; and one by New York University. Two are named after our partners — the first for Frank Latcham and the second for Paul Frankel — and Paul Frankel was the first-ever recipient of the third. Currently, the SALT Group has more than 25 attorneys.
Morrison & Foerster's nationally recognized state and local tax attorneys focus on litigation, planning and consulting for clients on a variety of tax issues, including corporate franchise and income, sales and use, real and personal property, local business license, gross receipts, transfer, severance, and other areas, including unclaimed property. The firm regularly advises clients on the state and local tax implications of corporate transactions and reorganizations, including multistate analyses of mergers and acquisitions.
We serve a broad range of industries, including automotive, banking, chemical, computer technology, credit card and consumer finance, energy, food, industrial manufacturing, pharmaceutical, retail, and telecommunications.
The SALT Group is on the short list of virtually every large U.S. company with a significant SALT controversy and is regularly consulted for transactional work. The group has successfully litigated across the country, but we have resolved almost all of our matters without the necessity of trial.
Our lawyers approach state and local tax issues from a nationwide perspective, taking into account the similarities and differences of state and local tax systems throughout the United States, and a state-specific perspective, taking into account unique aspects of state and local tax law. We have been involved in many of the most important cases affecting state and local taxation, including a number that have been heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
