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
Position
Partner
Section Chair – State Tax (Firmwide & Dallas)
Career
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.
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
Oil and Gas Workshop, Speaker, International Property Tax Institute, February 2018
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Tax > US taxes: contentious
Baker Botts L.L.P. maintains longstanding expertise in the energy, technology, and financial services sectors and is highly active in both federal and SALT matters. The group, which demonstrates expertise in audits, appeals, and litigation, is additionally noted for its robust private client practice, which has expertise in estate and gift tax disputes. Houston-based SALT chair Renn Neilson covers disputes relating to sales tax, property tax, and income tax and is particularly sought out by clients in the energy sector. John Porter and Keri Brown work alongside Neilson in the Houston office and are both highly active on behalf of high net worth individuals and families. San Francisco’s Jon Feldhammer has a broad practice covering work for both individuals and public companies, while Ben Geslison, in Houston, is experienced as a trial and appellate litigator. 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 and national security > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
Firm Rankings
- Energy > Energy litigation: electric power
- Energy > Energy regulation: electric power
- Energy > Energy regulation: oil and gas
- Environment > Environment: litigation
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- 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
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- Antitrust > Cartel
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Tax > International tax
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- Finance > Project finance
- 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)
- Tax > US taxes: contentious
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Labor and employment > ERISA litigation
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Intellectual property > Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters)
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Real estate > Construction (including construction litigation)
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Real estate > Real estate
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Media, technology and telecoms > Telecoms and broadcast: transactions
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)