Scott Brian Clark

Scott serves as Senior Counsel in the firm's Taxation Group. For more than 30 years, Scott Clark has been at the forefront of the tax planning & state tax controversy arena. He has handled a vast number of diverse high-profile cases and issues and has significant tax experience representing both prominent entertainers and personalities, ultra-high net worth individuals, family offices, and well-known domestic and multi-national companies, particularly those based in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

Scott has been integrally involved with cutting-edge tax issues impacting income and sales taxes, transfer taxes, global communications and digital taxes, and issues of personal residency and domicile, among others. He has served as a senior advisor to many of the world's most significant companies on issues of tax planning, controversy and settlements of cutting-edge tax disputes in most of the 50 states. Scott has been particularly well-known for his work early-on in the telecommunications, broadband and internet tax arena, the hotel and travel “intermediary” industry, and currently with respect to the taxation of digital products in the various states. He served as an initial drafter of the early white papers on the taxation of e-commerce, technology and communications, at which time he was involved in the formation and activities of the Congressional Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce, as well as similar commissions and industry groups around the country since then.

Prior to joining private law practice, Scott was an equity partner and co-leader of PwC’s national multistate tax and legal services (TLS) Communications Industry practice, where he advised on tax planning and settlements of major tax disputes, and served as a senior tax advisor to many of the world's largest communications companies. Earlier, he served for many years as the Associate Tax Counsel for GTE (now Verizon) Corporation, where he acted as legal advisor and counsel with respect to tax audit, protest and litigation matters and also employee benefit matters. As such, he assisted in the litigation of numerous substantial state tax and certain notable federal tax issues around the country. He was integrally involved in the implementation of GTE’s U.S. Supreme Court Goldberg decision, which set the national standard for state income/ franchise tax apportionment, and he also served to guide the litigation of several other notable state court decisions, among them, the Kentucky Supreme Court’s GTE decision, and New York’s Southern Pacific & GTE Spacenet decisions.

Among his many accolades and accomplishments: Scott is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and is a Certified Public Accountant in New York State. He has served as board member, officer or chair of numerous key organizations throughout the country focused on tax, legal and business issues. He is a long-time member of the executive committee of the Tax Section of the Connecticut Bar Association and is also an active member of the state bar in Florida, New York, and Washington DC. Scott lectures frequently throughout the country on tax, legal and financial matters.

Representative Experience

• Represented the senior corporate officers of one of the largest energy companies on the successful almost total mitigation of significant responsible person tax assessments.
• Litigated one of the most significant individual tax credit cases for one of the county’s largest real estate developers.
• Advised one of the nation’s largest developers of multi-family housing on numerous tax planning, audit, and litigation matters across the county.
• Advised several of the largest non-US based luxury and internet retailers on tax registration and collection issues all across the country in light of the U.S. Supreme Courts Wayfair
• Handled a great variety of high-profile tax audits and cases representing both prominent entertainers and personalities on tax domicile, residence, and tax apportionment issues.
• Advised on a significant number of high-profile asset and stock sale transactions including acquisitions and divestitures throughout the country.
• Served as outside tax counsel to a multi-billion dollar brand name marketing company in litigation on a significant and notable New York sales tax issue.
• Served as outside tax counsel to a Fortune 25 communications company with respect to a $20 plus million state tax litigation matter.
• Served as outside tax advisor to a brand name on-line travel services company with respect to national multistate litigation.
• Developed and implemented significant tax planning techniques and advised companies on the reduction and potential elimination of the federal communications excise tax.
• Designated as outside tax counsel to a multi-billion heavy equipment manufacturer on various state and federal excise tax audits and litigation.
• Served as advisor to the Board of Directors and General Counsel of a multi-billion brand name public company on significant state tax reserve issues.
• Provided tax counsel and advice to numerous corporate CEOs and executives on tax residency audits & litigation.