Thomas H. Halpern

Thomas Halpern is the knowledge management counsel for the Tax Department at Latham & Watkins and is based in the Los Angeles office. Before joining the firm’s knowledge management team, Mr. Halpern was a senior associate in the Tax Department.

Mr. Halpern has broad experience in transactional tax, tax-exempt organizations, international tax, employee benefits, executive compensation and tax controversy. His practice has focused on the federal income taxation of corporations, partnerships and tax-exempt entities, including with respect to mergers and acquisitions, offerings of debt and equity securities, bankruptcy restructurings and private equity investments.

Mr. Halpern has represented clients including Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, financial institutions, private equity firms, hospitals, educational and research institutions, nonprofit housing entities and Native American tribal organizations. His matters have included:

• Negotiating the tax aspects of mergers, stock and asset acquisitions and dispositions and tax-free reorganizations, in both public and private company deals
• Preparing tax disclosure for stock and debt offerings
• Advising lenders and borrowers on tax issues in credit agreements
• Drafting partnership and limited liability company agreements
• Advising public charities and private foundations on various nonprofit and tax-exempt issues

In addition to practicing at Latham, Mr. Halpern has worked as an in-house attorney at Southern California Edison, focusing on employee benefits and executive compensation. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Halpern headed the Fact Finding Department at the Anti-Defamation League, where he monitored extremist groups and addressed a range of civil rights and civil liberties issues. He has co-authored a book and a dozen reports, testified on Capitol Hill, appeared on numerous television news programs and spoken to law enforcement and civilian audiences around the country regarding extremism.