Tax
With a well-established focus on REIT structuring, tax, and transactional matters, the team at Sullivan & Worcester LLP advises public and private REITs across formations, IPOs, capital markets offerings, and corporate restructurings. The group is particularly active in REIT tax structuring, including cross-border transactions and compliance with REIT qualification requirements, and regularly advises domestic and foreign investors on REIT investments. The Boston-based practice is led by Angela Gomes, who advises REIT clients on corporate finance, securities compliance, and governance matters. Tax director Ameek Ashok Ponda focuses on domestic and international tax issues involving REIT formations, conversions, and cross-border transactions. Louis Monti advises REITs on acquisitions, dispositions, and financings across multiple real estate asset classes. Sarah Wellings focuses on REIT structuring, compliance, and formation matters. Washington DC-based Cameron Cosby joined the firm in April 2025 and advises REITs on capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures.
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Profile
Work Department
Tax/REITs
Position
Ameek Ashok Ponda is a tax partner at Sullivan & Worcester in Boston and was previously a member of the firm’s Management Committee and director of the firm's Tax Department.
Ameek's practice includes domestic and international taxation, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions and real estate investment trusts (REITs). Nationally recognized for his work in REIT conversions and REIT cross-border matters, Ameek has represented public and private REITs in an array of real property sectors, both domestically and abroad, including: business storage facilities; cold storage facilities; communications towers; data centers; dark and lit fiber; digital billboards; distributed antenna systems; hotels and travel centers; industrial properties; mortgage loans; single-family and multi-family residential; office buildings; parking facilities; retail properties; senior living facilities; solar, wind, and other power infrastructure; timberlands; transmission and distribution lines; as well as vineyards, greenhouses, and other agricultural properties.
Ameek is also an adjunct professor with the Boston University School of Law Graduate Tax Program, where for over 25 years he has taught tax courses on topics such as business planning, corporate reorganizations, international taxation, regulated investment companies and REITs, and financial products. He currently serves as a lecturer on law with the Harvard Law School and has previously served as a lecturer on law with Boston College Law School.
Ameek is a charter member and former secretary of The Indus Entrepreneurs – Boston and a former member of the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council. Ameek has recently been elected as President of the American College of Tax Counsel (ACTC), which follows his service on the Board of Regents and as Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer. He is also on the Board of the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (which produces the free “Shakespeare on the Boston Common” in the summer), the Board of the Harvard Club of Boston, and the Advisory Boards of GBH (Boston’s PBS affiliate) and the South Asian Bar Association of Greater Boston. In 2007, Boston Business Journal named Ameek one of its Boston “40 under 40”.
Career
Bar & Court Admissions
- Massachusetts
Languages
English, Hindi, Urdu
Memberships
- President, American College of Tax Counsel
- Past Chair of the Board, Tax Analysts
- Member, American Law Institute
- Member, National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit)
- Member, International Fiscal Association
- Member, National Tax Association
- Charter Member and former Secretary, The Indus Entrepreneurs – Boston
- American, Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations
- Member, Board of Advisors, South Asian Bar Association of Greater Boston
- Adjunct Professor, Boston University School of Law Graduate Tax Program
- Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School
- Former Lecturer on Law, Boston College Law School
- Former Board of Regents, American College of Tax Counsel
- Former Member, Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC)
Education
- Boston University School of Law (LL.M., valedictorian)
- Taxation
- Harvard Law School (J.D., magna cum laude)
- Harvard College (B.A., summa cum laude)
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'We have built multiple complex and sophisticated REIT platforms over the years and worked with many top-tier REIT specialists, but Sullivan's REIT practice is by far the best. Their expertise, depth of knowledge, and rigor are unmatched, which is critical in REIT transactions where even minor mistakes can have catastrophic consequences.'
- 'Sullivan brings a proven ability to manage every aspect of a REIT transaction end-to-end, from structuring and financing to tax, commercial contracts, compliance, and governance. What truly sets them apart is that they don't just execute - they are part of the team and help shape strategy.'
Key clients
- American Tower Corporation
- Equinix, Inc.
Work highlights
Represented major public REITs, including American Tower Corporation and Equinix, Inc., and provided tax counsel and public tax opinions on matters relating to REIT qualification, transactions, and ongoing compliance.