The focus of Jack's Practice is Federal income tax controversy matters, including specifically IRS audits and appeals and litigation in all federal courts.

Jack has litigated in the U.S. Tax Court, U.S. District Court (including Bankruptcy Courts), U.S. Claims Court, most of the U.S. Courts of Appeal, and United States Supreme Court, involving the spectrum of tax issues (e.g., transfer pricing (§ 482)), including both civil and criminal representation in § 482 issues and Competent Authority representation, oil and gas taxation; exempt organization taxation, accounting issues, constructive sales prices for the manufacturer's excise tax (§ 482-type analysis), foreign tax credit and outbound transfer issues, business purchase issues (including valuation and depreciation or amortization of tangible and intangible assets), responsible person penalty matters and a range of other civil tax disputes. Jack has represented clients before the IRS in audits, appeals, assessments, collections and criminal investigations; he has also represented clients before the Justice Department Tax Division and U.S. Attorney's office in criminal matters. 

Jack most recently has represented one of the defendants in the gorilla of all tax criminal cases in the known, or at least knowable, universe -- the KPMG individual defendant criminal case, United States v. Stein (S.D. N.Y. - S1 05 Crim. 0888 (LAK)), which has generated many published opinions, including the leading opinions in tax and white collar criminal defense dismissing the indictment against 13 defendants because the federal prosecutors had behaved unconstitutionally in forcing KPMG to withdraw payment of attorneys fees.  United States v. Stein, 435 F. Supp. 2d 330 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) and United States v. Stein, 495 F. Supp. 2d 390 (S.D.N.Y. 2007), aff'd United States v. Stein, 541 F.3d 130 (2d Cir. 2008).

Past Employment:

• U. S. Department of Justice, Tax Division
  Trial Section 1974-1977
  Appellate Section 1969-1974

Activities

• University of Houston-Adjunct Professor of Law in the Tax Program, 1982-1988 and 1993 through present (teaching Tax Procedure (each Fall Semester) and Tax Fraud and Money Laundering (every other Spring Semester)).

• Participant and Panelist for programs by the ABA Tax Section's Court Procedure Committee; Tax Executives Institute, the Texas State Bar (partnerships and oil and gas), Houston Bar Association (partnerships), South Carolina State Bar (partnerships), New York University Federal Tax Institute (tax procedure); University of Houston School of Law (Criminal Tax Symposium in 2008; earlier real estate taxation and partnerships), and Southern Methodist University School of Law (partnerships and oil and gas taxation).

Author of Books

• Federal Tax Crimes (pdf downloadable from firm's web site)
• Federal Tax Procedure (2008) (pdf downloadable from firm's web site).
• Tax Crimes (Lexis-Nexis 2008), co-authored with Professors Steven Johnson and Scott Schumacher and Larry Campagna, a practitioner and adjunct at University of Houston Law School where he and Mr. Townsend jointly teach the Tax Fraud and Money Laundering course.

Articles on Taxation including:

• Judge Posner's Opinion in Kikalos, 108 Tax Notes 593 (2005).
• Analysis of the Fastow Plea Bargains, 102 Tax Notes 1425 (2004).
• Tax Treaty Interpretation, 55 Tax Lawyer 219 (Fall 2001).
• Burden of Proof in Tax Cases: Valuations and Ranges, 2001 TNT 187-37 (2001).
• Taxpayer Rights in Criminal Investigations, 90 Tax Notes 1842 (2001).
• Interpreting Consents to Extend the Statute of Limitations, 78 Tax Notes 459 (1998) (co-authored with his partner, Larry Jones).
• Reconciling Section 482 and the Nonrecognition Provisions, 50 Tax Lawyer 701 (1997).
• Audits and Appeals: Developments, 54 N.Y.U. Inst. on Fed. Taxation, ch. 26 (1996).

Memberships:

• Member American Bar Association, Tax Section. Past Subcommittee Chair and currently active in the Court Procedure Committee on certain large case matters.

• State Bar of Texas, Tax Section.

• Houston Bar Association (Past Chair and Director of Tax Section).

• Tax Section, Federal Bar Association, Washington, D.C. Director 1988-1990.

• Houston Tax Roundtable (Past Chair).

• The Tax Procedure Group (Past Chair).

• Admitted to Bars of Texas (1977) and numerous courts, including the Southern District of Texas, the Fifth Circuit and the Supreme Court.

Education:

• University of South Carolina, A.B., 1964.

• University of Virginia, LL.B., 1967.

• New York University LL.M. (Taxation), 1969.

Honors:

• Board Certified - Tax Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

• Honors Special Commendation Award at Attorney General's Awards Ceremony at the Justice Department; Justice Department Tax Division Meritorious Service Award.

• Listed since 1997 among Houston’s top tax lawyers in The Best Lawyers in America, the premier national peer group lawyer ratings.

• Listed in Texas Lawyer’s “Go-to-Guide” (Oct. 2002) as being among Texas’ top 5 "Top Notch" tax lawyers.

• Listed in Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.

• Listed in Who’s Who Legal (Texas 2008).

Other Affiliations

• Current General Counsel and Past Chair/President, South Main Baptist Foundation.

Representative Matters Handled by John A. Townsend

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