Speakers / Authors:
Eric Solomon
Ernst & Young LLP
Eric Solomon is the Director of Ernst & Young LLP’s National Tax Department in Washington, D.C. He has more than 30 years of tax experience in private practice and government service.
Mr. Solomon served as Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department from December 2006 to January 2009. In this role, he headed the Office of Tax Policy, which serves as the primary advisor to the Treasury Secretary on legal and economic matters relating to domestic and international taxation.
Mr. Solomon joined the Office of Tax Policy in 1999. He served as Senior Advisor for Policy, Deputy Assistant Secretary (Tax Policy) and Deputy Assistant Secretary (Regulatory Affairs) prior to his 2006 confirmation as Assistant Secretary.
From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Solomon was a principal in Ernst & Young LLP’s National Tax Mergers and Acquisitions group in Washington, D.C. Previously, he was Assistant Chief Counsel (Corporate) at the Internal Revenue Service, heading the IRS legal division responsible for all corporate tax issues. He began his career with law firms in New York City and was a partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath in Philadelphia.
Mr. Solomon received his A.B. from Princeton University (Phi Beta Kappa), his J.D. from the University of Virginia and his LL.M. in taxation from New York University. He is an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches a course in corporate taxation.
John Clair
Latham & Watkins LLP
John J. Clair, Jr., is the managing partner of the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins LLP and is a member of the firm’s tax department. His practice centers on corporate taxation, specifically, advising clients on tax issues involved in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; financial products and services; and administrative and judicial tax controversy work. Mr. Clair has represented investment banks, leveraged buyout funds, public companies, individual investors and foreign corporations in a variety of matters.
Mr. Clair has been recognized for his domestic tax work in the Legal 500 US and Chambers USA guides. In addition, he was cited as a leading tax attorney by the Los Angeles Business Journal in its 2009 "Who's Who in Law" feature and as a recommended attorney in World Tax 2010, a guide to the world's leading tax firms published by International Tax Review.
Mr. Clair is a member of the Los Angeles County, State of California, and American Bar Associations. He has written various articles for the Practising Law Institute and Tax Executives Institute. He has lectured before various professional tax organizations, including the University of Southern California Tax Institute, the University of Chicago Tax Institute, the Tax Executives Institute, the New York University Tax Institute, the UCLA Mergers & Acquisitions Tax Institute and the Practicing Law Institute.
Mr. Clair earned his J.D. in 1972 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He earned his B.A. with high honors from Brown University in 1968.
Mr. Clair is admitted to practice in California and is a registered foreign lawyer in England and Wales.
Matthew Rosen
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Matthew A. Rosen, co-head of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom’s Tax Group, represents clients in every aspect of tax work, with particular emphasis on acquisitions, divestitures and restructurings, both domestic and cross-border. He also handles matters involving partnerships of every type, joint ventures, foreign investments, real estate investment trusts, regulated investment companies and executive compensation. In addition, Mr. Rosen’s practice includes the development of financial instruments and financial products. His clients include many significant public and private companies, investment banks and investment funds.
Mr. Rosen frequently speaks at professional gatherings throughout the country. His topics often cover tax strategies for corporate acquisitions and dispositions, financial restructurings and the tax implications of financial products and instruments.
Mr. Rosen is regularly listed in Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Tax Lawyers and Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Tax Advisers. In addition, Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business and Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business have repeatedly named Mr. Rosen in their top tier category for tax lawyers. He is also included in the Tax Directors Handbook 2009; The Best Lawyers in America 2010 in the specialty of tax law; The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers; and Global Counsel 3000, which listed Mr. Rosen as a “recommended individual.” Portfolio magazine also included Mr. Rosen in its list of the top 10 tax attorneys in the United States. Mr. Rosen was previously selected by The American Lawyer magazine as one of 45 lawyers in the country under the age of 45 who “are making their mark now and will lead the profession tomorrow.”
Mr. Rosen earned an LL.M. from New York University in 1979, a J.D. from Boston University in 1976, and a B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1973. He is admitted to practice in New York and Pennsylvania.
William Alexander
Internal Revenue Service
William D. Alexander is the Associate Chief Counsel (Corporate) at the Internal Revenue Service. He has been with the IRS Office of Chief Counsel (Corporate) since 1990. Prior to joining the IRS, he was associated with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York. He has a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, a law degree from Columbia Law School, and an LL.M. in taxation from New York University School of Law.