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.

Thomas 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.

Thomas 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, Thomas has worked as an in-house attorney at Southern California Edison, focusing on employee benefits and executive compensation. Prior to attending law school, Thomas 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.