Skadden's Tax Work Helps Firm Become D.C. Behemoth

Legal Times:  Skadden Posts Huge Capital Gains, by Marisa McQuilken:

It's the highest-grossing firm in New York, and for that matter, in the United States. Could Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom be on the verge of becoming D.C.'s top revenue earner, too? On this year's D.C. 20, Legal Times' annual list of the top-grossing Washington law offices, Skadden climbed to No. 3, powered by a 19.7% jump in revenue. ...

Perhaps the reason Skadden is in a position to reach No. 1 is because it acts like a quintessential Washington firm. It has 299 lawyers in the District, and they're handling some of the highest-end work available. ...

Paul Oosterhuis, head of Skadden's international tax practice, ... describes the 54-lawyer tax practice as being divided into four groups: One chunk serves as a support system for M&A work handled in D.C.; another supports transactional work generated by the energy practice; another component focuses on helping U.S.- and foreign-based multinational clients with tax planning; and finally, there's the tax controversy group.

That level of organization, says tax controversy partner Fred Goldberg Jr., "encourages us to work together and share." For many of the deals handled by the tax group, Goldberg acts as a liaison to the agencies. He has plenty of experience inside government: He was commissioner of the IRS from 1989 to 1992 and assistant secretary for tax policy at the Treasury Department in 1992.