David Foster > Kirkland & Ellis LLP > Washington DC, United States > Lawyer Profile

Kirkland & Ellis LLP
1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C., 20004
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
United States
David Foster photo

Position

David Foster is a partner in the Tax Practice Group in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. David advises a broad range of clients, including large corporations, private equity firms and hedge funds, partnerships, estates, exempt organizations and individuals, many of whom are subject to the IRS’ Global High Wealth initiative. His practice covers a diverse range of tax issues, including international tax and transfer pricing, TEFRA and BBA partnership audit and litigation procedures, taxation of financial products, estate and gift taxes, deferred compensation, voluntary disclosures and criminal tax.

A former Supreme Court clerk, David has prepared briefs and argued before many of the federal courts of appeals. Prior to joining Kirkland, he obtained a rare taxpayer victory striking down a Treasury Regulation in Hewitt v. Commissioner, 21 F.4th 1336 (11th Cir. 2021). He also represented five former IRS commissioners in a D.C. Circuit amicus brief in Loving v. IRS in support of licensing standards for tax return preparers, as well as the American College of Tax Counsel in amicus briefs in the Tax Court and the Supreme Court.

David lectures regularly to in-house tax departments and professional associations. He is a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and the American Bar Foundation. He also served as chair of the D.C. Bar’s Tax Audits and Litigation Committee and as co-chair of the ABA Tax Section’s Privileges Subcommittee of the Civil and Criminal Tax Penalties Committee.

David has repeatedly been ranked in Chambers USAChambers High Net WorthThe Best Lawyers in America and The Legal 500 United States, and was previously recognized as one of Washington, D.C.’s Trending 40 Lawyers Under 40 by Legal Bisnow. He has also been included in Washingtonian’s Top Lawyers list since 2018.

Lawyer Rankings

United States > Tax > US taxes: contentious

Kirkland & Ellis LLP fields a ‘knowledgeable, responsive, and highly effective’ team with experience at every stage of the tax controversy process. The group places emphasis on diverse tax expertise, and as such covers an extensive range of disputes, including transfer pricing disputes, offshore banking issues, and complex audits for prominent clients in the private equity space. Richard Husseini, based in Houston, co-leads the department alongside Natalie Keller, in Chicago. Husseini has experience representing public and private companies and high net worth individuals before the IRS, courts, and other regulatory bodies, while Keller covers audits, appeals, and litigation, with strength in transfer pricing issues. The department has seen recent growth, with David Foster joining the Washington DC office from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in February 2023, and David Cole entering the Houston team from Vinson & Elkins LLP in October 2022. Of counsel JoAnne Nagjee, in Chicago, is a name to note.