John Porter > Baker Botts L.L.P. > Houston, United States > Lawyer Profile

Baker Botts L.L.P.
910 LOUISIANA STREET
HOUSTON
TEXAS 77002-4995
TEXAS
United States

Work Department

Tax

Position

Partner

Career

John’s practice focuses on tax and fiduciary litigation. He represents taxpayers in sophisticated estate, gift, and income tax controversy matters, including audits, IRS appeals, and litigation. He also provides legal counsel on estate planning issues for high net-worth individuals to best position their estate plan against IRS challenge. John has served as lead counsel for the taxpayer in some of the most significant published transfer tax decisions in the last twenty-five years, including Petter, Christiansen, McCord, and Hendrix (upholding formula clauses used to transfer hard to value assets), Bongard, Stone, Murphy, Black, and Schutt (rejecting IRS attempts to apply 2036 to family entities), Jelke, Dunn, Kerr, Jameson, Davis and Richmond (built-in capital gains discount when valuing stock), Steinberg (approving the net-net gift discount), and Litman/Diener (valuation of restricted stock and reasonable reliance defense to IRS penalties).

Memberships

John is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the American College of Tax Counsel and a board certified specialist in probate, trust and estate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Education

JD (cum laude), Baylor Law School, 1986, BBA, accounting, Texas A&M University, 1982.

Personal

Frequent speaker, author regarding federal tax controversy issues, including business valuation.

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.