Joseph Selby is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP based in the Firm’s Boston office. As a member of the Tax Department, his practice focuses primarily on federal income tax issues, including advising clients on audits, appeals, litigation and tax planning for proposed transactions, as well as state and local tax issues, including the following:
- Representing clients before the Internal Revenue Service, including pre-audit planning at audit or IRS appeals, dealing with IRS document requests and summonses, interviewing potential witnesses and identifying and retaining experts
- Representing clients in tax litigation in the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. District Courts. Recent cases include General Mills, Inc. & Subsidiaries v. United States, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3196, 101 A.F.T.R.2d 2008- 550 (D. Minn. 2008, Gov't appeal pending in Eighth Circuit); Texaco Inc. v. United States, 97 AFTR 2d 2006-2217 (N.D. Cal., Gov’t appeal pending in the Ninth Circuit).
- Advising clients with respect to the tax consequences of transactions involving U.S. and foreign corporations, with emphasis on taxable and tax-free acquisitions and dispositions, including reorganizations and spin-offs
- Advising clients on the attorney-client, work product and tax practitioner privileges
Prior to entering private practice, Joseph served two years as an assistant district attorney in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, where he prosecuted bench and jury trials to verdict, presented felony cases to the grand jury, conducted pretrial evidentiary hearings, oral arguments and witness interviews, and arraigned cases ranging from misdemeanors to homicides.
While at Georgetown University Law Center, Joseph received the Thomas Bradbury Chetwood Prize for attaining the highest academic average in his graduating class.
In 2008, Joseph was named one of Boston's Future Leaders by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. The Boston’s Future Leaders program is limited to a small group of successful, emerging leaders who have been nominated by senior executives of Chamber of Commerce member organizations.
Joseph is a member of the American Bar Association Tax Section and the Boston Bar Association Tax Section. He is admitted to the practice of law in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
Education
- Boston University School of Law, J.D. (cum laude), 1999
- Georgetown University Law Center, LL.M. (with distinction, Thomas Bradbury Chetwood Prize for attaining the highest academic average in graduating class), 2002
- Tufts University, B.A. (cum laude), 1996
