|
Kathleen Pakenham is a partner in Cooley's Tax Litigation practice group and is a member of the Litigation department. She joined the firm in 2010 and is resident in the New York office.
Ms. Pakenham is a seasoned litigator in matters involving complex questions of federal tax law and procedure. She has represented clients in sizable tax controversies relating to tax shelter issues, options trading transactions, summons enforcement actions, tax fraud, subpoena requests and real property tax disputes. Ms. Pakenham has extensive experience advising clients at the pre-litigation assessment phase. She also represents clients involved in all types of internal and governmental investigations, in addition to state and federal trial and appellate matters. Her clients have included Fortune 500 companies in diverse industries such as banking, energy, telecommunications, and oil and gas.
Recent representations include:
- Serving as lead counsel in a week-long trial in U.S. Tax Court relating to a façade easement on a luxury condominium building valued at more than $75 million;
- Conducting Fast Track mediation before the IRS relating to proposed disallowance of a $600 million loss from a corporate restructuring;
- Counseling multiple clients making voluntary disclosures of offshore bank accounts;
- Representing more than a dozen witnesses in complex criminal tax shelter investigations; and
- Negotiating successful resolution of Tier 1 issues.
Ms. Pakenham specializes in analyzing the procedural aspects of federal and state tax laws, such as statutes of limitation, penalties and jurisdictional provisions. She is the primary authority in the U.S. on state tax shelter issues, and has published several influential articles in this area.
Prior to joining Cooley, Ms. Pakenham was a Tax Litigation and Controversy partner at White & Case.
Ms. Pakenham earned her LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law in 1998, and received her law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1995, where she graduated magna cum laude. While attending law school, she was a member of the Moot Court Honor Society and editor of the Journal of International Law. She clerked for the Honorable Steven M. Gold of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York after graduating from law school. Ms. Pakenham also has a B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany.
Ms. Pakenham has been consistently recognized as a leader in the tax litigation and controversy practice area by Chambers USA and The Legal 500. Additionally, she was appointed to the prestigious United States Attorney General's Honor Program immediately after her graduation of law school.
Ms. Pakenham is admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third and Eighth Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. She is also an active member of the American Bar Association, Section of Taxation.
Education- New York University School of Law
LLM, 1998 - Brooklyn Law School
JD magna cum laude, 1995 - State Univ of New York/Albany
BA, 1992
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
- U.S. Tax Court
Admissions
Memberships
- American Bar Association
- New York State Bar Association
Publications
- Panelist, "Representing Clients in Federal & State Criminal Tax Investigations," New York City Bar Association, March 11, 2010, New York
- Moderator and panelist, "The Economic Substance Penalty," American Bar Association's Tax Section Midyear Meeting, January 18, 2008, Lake Las Vegas
- Panelist, "Current Tax Litigation Issues; Including Deference to Regulations," Federal Bar Association's 19th Annual Insurance Tax Seminar, June 1, 2007, Washington, DC
- Panelist, "IRS Administrative Affairs," Tax Executives Institute 57th Midyear Conference, March 20, 2007, Washington, DC
- "Keeping the Skeletons in your Closet: Creating and Managing an Effective Records Retention Program," Bloomberg Corporate Law Journal, December 2006
- Presenter, "NYS Sales and Use Tax," Lorman Institute, October 4, 2006, New York
- Presenter, "How Taxpayers Evaluate the Hazards of Litigation," IRS National Appeals Training, September 26, 2006, Dallas
- Presenter, "Evaluating the Hazards of Litigation," IRS Appeals National Training, September 19, 2006, Philadelphia
- Presenter, "Tax Procedure: Hazards of Litigation," national meeting of IRS Appeals Technical Guidance Officers, June 6, 2006, Philadelphia
- "Special Report: State Tax Shelter Legislative Update," State Tax Notes, January 30, 2006
- "IRS Settlement Initiative: Penalty Reduction Is the Obvious Attraction," Tax Notes, November 14, 2005
- Co-Author, "IRS Releases Tax Shelter Audit Technique Guide," Tax Notes, July 18, 2005
- "New York's Tax Attack," New York Law Journal, May 31, 2005
- "Special Report: An Analysis of New York's Tax Shelter Legislation," State Tax Notes, May 16, 2005
- "The Gross Valuation Misstatement Penalty in Tax Shelter Cases," Tax Notes, November 1, 2004
- Panelist, "Tax Shelter Update," American Bar Association, Section of Taxation, Boston, MA, October 2004
- "IRS Modifies Policy on Tax Accrual Workpapers," Practical US/Domestic Tax Strategies, July 2004
- "You Better Shop Around: The Status and Authority of Special Trial Judges in Federal Tax Cases," Tax Notes, June 21, 2004
- Panelist, "Liability for Responding to Third-Party Summonses," American Bar Association, Section of Taxation, Washington, DC, May 2004
|