Ryan Carney > Vinson & Elkins LLP > Houston, United States > Lawyer Profile

Vinson & Elkins LLP represents a vast array of domestic and foreign clients across a broad range of industries including energy, finance, technology, and real estate in transactional matters ranging from structuring inbound and outbound investments, advising on US or UK tax aspects of cross-border transactions. Additionally the firm provides a robust international tax planning practice advising formations of new financing and ownership structures, cross-border mergers and acquisitions and transfer pricing planning and implementation. The team is co-headed by Dallas-based David Peck  and Houston-based Ryan Carney who both advise on transactions and structuring matters including M&A, and investments. In Dallas, Natan Leyva advises borrowers and lenders on the tax aspects of domestic and cross-border financing transactions.

At Vinson & Elkins LLP, ‘the team’s professionalism, knowledge in the subject matter, and experience in litigation is what sets them apart’. Adept in trials and appeals, the firm is frequently involved in high-value matters both domestically and internationally. George Gerachis  in Houston and Kathy Pakenham in Dallas co-lead the tax controversy practice, which sits within the broader tax practice group led by Houston-based Ryan Carney. Pakenham and New York-based standout partner Adriana Wirtz are ‘the most capable, most ethical tax controversy lawyers in the country’, and one client believes that Wirtz is ‘the gold standard for resolving high-stakes tax controversies quickly and effectively’. Gerachis and Pakenham recently assisted Halliburton with a $32m federal income tax refund case against the IRS involving the deductibility of a payment made to a foreign government. As as its core focus on energy, the practice also handles matters in the financial services, technology, health care, and real estate industries.

The ‘responsive and professional’ team at Vinson & Elkins LLP advises on a variety of tax matters, including those relating to REITs, energy sector work, and funds work, as well as advising public and private corporations, private equity funds, investors, and SPACs on various complex transactions. Leading the group is Ryan Carney in Houston, advising on M&A, joint ventures, divestitures, and public offerings, and David Peck in Dallas, who advises private equity clients on fund formations and investment partnerships. In Washington DC, Gary Huffman focuses on domestic and international tax planning as well as structuring for MLPs. Other key figures within the practice include New York’s ‘impressive’ Ron Nardini, as well as the ‘very knowledgeable’ Sean Moran in Austin and Lauren Collins in Los Angeles. Jorge Medina and Jenny Speck have joined the firm from A&O Shearman and Bracewell LLP, respectively.