Renn Neilson > Baker Botts L.L.P. > Houston, United States > Lawyer Profile
Baker Botts L.L.P. Offices
910 LOUISIANA STREET
HOUSTON
TEXAS 77002-4995
TEXAS
United States
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Renn Neilson
Work Department
Tax / State Tax
Position
Partner / Section Chair – State Tax (Firmwide & Dallas)
Career
Practice Areas
Practice focuses on state and local taxation, incentives and unclaimed property. He helps clients restructure their holdings, acquire and dispose of assets and structure financing transactions to minimize tax exposure. He regularly defends taxpayers in property, franchise/income and sales tax controversies.
Career
Renn has over 25 years of experience in this area; he has won several SALT cases at the Texas Supreme Court, has done planning and incentive work on many of the largest industrial projects in Texas and around the nation, and has served as lead counsel in hundreds of state and local tax lawsuits.
Memberships
State Bar of Texas United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas Houston Bar Association, Tax Section Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, Board of Directors United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
Education
J.D., Columbia Law School 1991; Articles Editor, Columbia Business Law Review; B.A., English, Brigham Young University 1988
Personal
Publications
Noteworthy Sales and Use Tax Cases, Houston Tax Executives Institute, Inc., February 2020
Selection and Preparation of Expert Witnesses, Speaker, Institute for Professionals in Taxation, March 2018
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Tax > US taxes: contentious
Baker Botts L.L.P. fields a long-established federal tax controversy and litigation team, with strength in the energy, technology, and financial service industries, and a large SALT practice, which is active in state audits, appeals, and litigation. Clients are particularly complimentary of the firm’s aptitude for estate and gift tax controversies, and praise the group’s ‘depth and breadth of expertise.’ State and local tax chair Renn Neilson, based in Houston, covers property, income, and sales tax controversies. Also based in Houston are senior partner John Porter and the ‘fantastic’ Keri Brown, who frequently work closely together on estate and gift tax controversies. Jon Feldhammer works from the San Francisco office, and is active on tax controversies before the IRS, California Franchise Tax Board, and other state agencies. Senior associate Ben Geslison, of the Houston office, focuses on SALT matters. William Gorrod left the firm in February 2024.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Energy > Energy litigation: oil and gas
- Energy > Energy transactions: electric power
- Energy > Energy transactions: oil and gas
- International Trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
Firm Rankings
- Antitrust > Cartel
- Energy > Energy litigation: electric power
- Energy > Energy regulation: electric power
- Energy > Energy regulation: oil and gas
- Environment > Environment: litigation
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- Intellectual property > Patents: prosecution (including re-examination and post-grant proceedings)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: toxic tort
- Tax > US taxes: contentious
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Labor and employment > ERISA litigation
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Tax > International tax
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- Energy > Renewable/alternative power
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: non-contentious (including prosecution, portfolio management and licensing)
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Finance > Project finance
- Intellectual property > Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters)
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Real estate > Construction (including construction litigation)
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Real estate > Real estate
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense