Squire Patton Boggs is pleased to announce that Jefferson P. VanderWolk has joined the firm as a partner in the Tax Strategy & Benefits Practice in the Washington DC office. Mr. VanderWolk has extensive experience in private practice and government and agency work, most recently as Head of the Tax Treaty, Transfer Pricing and Financial Transactions Division at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Centre for Tax Policy and Administration in Paris.
Mr. VanderWolk led the OECD’s Tax Treaty, Transfer Pricing and Financial Transactions Division for the past two years. Prior to that he was Executive Director at the Washington DC office of an international accounting firm (2013-16), where he advised on international tax legislative and policy developments, and he has served as International Tax Counsel to the US Senate Committee on Finance (2011-13) and as a Special Counsel in the Office of the Chief Counsel at the Internal Revenue Service (2005-06). Mr. VanderWolk has also worked extensively in private practice on tax policy matters and advised clients globally on significant transactions as an international tax adviser – serving as partner both at international law and accountancy firms, in London and Hong Kong, for more than a decade until 2005, and as Managing Director and Head of Tax for Asia Pacific at a major US financial institution for three years (2006-09).
A graduate of Boston University and Columbia University School of Law, Mr. VanderWolk is admitted to the New York and New Hampshire bars and qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales. He has taught at the University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Law, and was a professor of tax law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong from 2009 to 2011. He has been a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Taxation in London since 2003, and has been an active participant in the International Fiscal Association and other international tax organizations. He has also taught at Oxford University, London School of Economics, Washington College of Law at American University and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies at the University of London.
Mitch Thompson, global leader of the Tax Strategy & Benefits Practice, said: “We’re delighted that Jeff VanderWolk has joined Squire Patton Boggs. He is a wonderful addition to our team and a leading global tax and tax policy practitioner who has been at the forefront of shaping international tax policies. At the OECD, he was responsible for the rollout of the multilateral instrument currently being implemented in several countries around the world and Jeff has worked at the heart of US tax policymaking, gaining deep knowledge of tax reform, its intimate workings and practical applications. He has advised clients in Asia Pacific, Europe and the US on tax planning, structures and compliance across numerous industry sectors.
“In short, Jeff has helped organizations, businesses and individuals to understand and respond to global developments in cross-border taxation for decades, and has taught, researched and written on such tax law matters for just as long. Jeff is a very welcome addition to our international tax practice and will help us serve clients who are dealing with the changing tax landscape.”
Commenting on his arrival, Mr. VanderWolk said: “I’m really pleased to become part of this team. Squire Patton Boggs has an outstanding tax practice – they have both technical expertise and commercial savvy in abundance. They have the ability to make sense of complex, emerging areas of tax law such as the global digital economy, which is a rare quality among tax advisers. In addition to technical tax capability, Squire Patton Boggs has a world-class public policy practice. The combination of tax expertise and public policy experience has never been more important.”