Former U.S. Justice Attorney Joins McDermott Tax
CHICAGO — The international law firm of McDermott Will & Emery is pleased to announce that Thomas D. Sykes has joined its Tax Department as a partner. Resident in the Firm’s Chicago office,
Mr. Sykes concentrates on tax controversies, including federal tax litigation.
"Tom will be joining McDermott’s team of talented tax controversy lawyers that have a significant track record of bringing our clients meaningful business results on complex tax cases," commented Michael Fayhee, head of the Firm’s Tax Department. "Tom’s experience and responsibilities at the Department of Justice and his successful tax controversy practice bring our clients an excellent resource for their tax planning needs."
In recent years, Mr. Sykes has focused his practice on issues related to corporate-owned life insurance (COLI), corporate tax shelters, section 265 of the Internal Revenue Code, fringe benefits, loss-disallowance rules, interest-netting relief provisions and the valuation of intangible assets.
Before entering private practice in 1998, Mr. Sykes served as a senior-level trial attorney and supervisor with U.S. Justice Department’s Tax Division in Washington. During his tenure with the Tax Division, he litigated or directly supervised the litigation of approximately 175 tax cases in the Court of Federal Claims and in U.S. District Courts. He received Outstanding Attorney awards from the Tax Division in 1986, 1988, 1991, and 1997, and was an Assistant Chief of the Court of Federal Claims Section when he left the Tax Division for private practice. Over the course of his career, he has served as lead counsel in more than 20 cases tried before a jury and scores of cases tried before a court. He has also briefed and argued eight cases to U.S. courts of appeals. Mr. Sykes is identified as counsel in over 50 reported federal court opinions.
Mr. Sykes received his law degree from The Ohio State University College of Law and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, graduating magna cum laude. He is admitted to practice in Wisconsin, the District of Columbia, and before the U.S. Tax Court, the Court of Federal Claims, and the Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Eleventh Circuits.
