David Foster > Kirkland & Ellis LLP > Washington DC, United States > Lawyer Profile
Kirkland & Ellis LLP Offices
1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C., 20004
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
United States
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David Foster
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 USA, Chambers High Net Worth, The 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.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Advertising and marketing: litigation
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- International Trade > CFIUS
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Government > Government relations
- Intellectual property > Copyright
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Energy > Energy litigation: oil and gas
- Energy > Energy transactions: electric power
- Energy > Energy transactions: oil and gas
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Tax > International tax
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Investment fund formation and management > Mutual/registered/exchange-traded funds
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Real estate > Real estate
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- Intellectual property > Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters)
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: litigation
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
Firm Rankings
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Antitrust > Cartel
- Energy > Energy regulation: electric power
- Environment > Environment: litigation
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: automotive/transport
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: consumer products (including tobacco)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: toxic tort
- Finance > Project finance
- Real estate > Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Government > State attorneys general
- Finance > Structured finance: securitization
- Tax > US taxes: contentious
- Dispute resolution > E-discovery
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Insurance > Insurance: non-contentious
- Energy > Renewable/alternative power
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: non-contentious (including prosecution, portfolio management and licensing)
- Energy > Energy regulation: oil and gas
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: transactional
- Real estate > Construction (including construction litigation)
- International Trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Investment fund formation and management > Mutual/registered/exchange-traded funds