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Top Law Firms 1
We have compiled a list of the 10 top legal firms who have expertise working with investment firms wanting to work with the CDFI in order to qualify for tax incentives. All but one of the firms on our list have offices in California. The criteria for this list was extremely specific and in order to compile it, it was necessary for us to break down our search into parts in order to fulfill each of the components.
As the request was interested in firms who had experience obtaining tax incentives for their clients we initiated our research by searching for the top firms handling tax law. We obtained this initial list through U.S. News who has a ranking system based off a survey sent to clients and professional references of various legal firms. The survey collects responses regarding, cost, expertise, responsiveness, professionalism and whether they would recommend the firm.
We then narrowed down our results by determining, through examination of each firm's website, which had expertise working with investment firms wanting to work with the CDFI to qualify for tax incentives for investing in low-income areas. All the firms listed below met this requirement.
We were also asked to prioritize our search by firms having a big "footprint" in California. To do this we then ordered our results by their presence in the state. Since, not all the company websites listed the number of employees working at each office, we chose to measure the size of their footprint by the number of offices located within the state.
Dentons
This firm has the largest footprint in California and a presence in the state for nearly 30 years. They currently have seven offices, spread between Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, Palo Alto, and San Diego. All of their statewide offices work together and the firm focuses in many areas including business, tax, and real estate and investment.
Amelia Lewis, a lawyer working for Dentons' Real Estate law practice, is a CDI fund reviewer for both the New Markets Tax Credit and CDFI Program.
Greenberg Traurig LLP
This is the firm on our list with the second largest footprint in California. They have five offices one each in Los Angeles, Irvine, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Palo Alto. The partners at their California locations work within various legal areas but the firm focus on tax, corporate, and government law & policy.
This firm provides guidance directly on their website regarding qualified opportunity zones, CDFI and the various tax credits available. They work with their clients to maximize after-tax benefits.
Arnold & Porter LLP
This firm's California 3 offices are in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Palo Alto. They are one 30 largest legal firms in San Fransisco. The same office is one of the top practices in the areas of investment management, labor and employment and tax law.
This firm hosted the Peer Forum where "senior executives in the CDFI Banking sector" meet to discuss the influencers affecting CDFI banks.
Alston & Birds LLP
This firm has two offices in California, one in Los Angeles and the other in Palo Alto. The Los Angeles office which it opened in 2008 would be the location with a focus on finance, tax, and corporate law.
Aliston & Bird was the firm which represented Bancorp South during their $8.5 million dollar investment in Liberty Financial Services, a CDFI.
mayer brown
Opened an office in Los Angeles in 1985, which plays an integral part in the rest of the firm's business.
In an article published by CNBC Lawrence E. Platt, a partner at Mayer Brown is quoted about his opinion on CDFI lenders.
Blank Rome LLP
They have two offices in California, one in San Francisco (open 2014) the other in Los Angeles (open 2008). Both offices work within the areas of corporate law. The Los Angeles law also providing a focus in the areas of tax and real estate law.
Blank and Rome help their clients to create CDE's (community development entities) aiding them in their application for credits from various CDFI's.
Fox ROthschild LLP
With two California offices, one each in Los Angeles and San Fransisco the firm focuses on corporate, real estate, business succession, labor & employment and tax & wealth planning.
This article discusses how Mark Connot an attorney at Fox Rothschild completed $19.8 million deal which was affiliated with Clearinghouse CDFI for development in a Nevada opportunity area.
Holland & Knight LLP
This firm has two offices in California. Their Los Angeles and San Francisco offices cover corporate, taxation and real estate law.
This firm closely follows legislation, and policy rules issued by the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) so that it can guide its clients regarding the most up to date tax credits.
Ballard Spahr LLP
This firm has the smallest footprint, with only one California office is located in Los Angeles. Their practice focuses on the areas of business, finance, real estate, and industry.
The public finance departments and tax groups of this firm have experience working with tax incentive programs for economically distressed areas. They provide their clients with regular updates on guidance provided on Opportunity Zones by the CDFI.
Bracewell LLP
This firm has no California offices, and therefore no footprint in the state as based on our criteria.
The firm does have experience with CDFI's and negotiated a "consent" between Metro United Bank the California Department of Financial Institutions (CDFI)
CONCLUSION
Of the 10 firms on our list, the two that have the largest footprint in California are Dentons and Greenberg Traurig LLP. Dentons has operated for 30 years in California and has seven offices throughout the state. One of the lawyers at Dentons' firm, Amelia Lewis, is a CDI fund reviewer for the CDFI Program and the New Markets Tax Credit.
Greenberg Traurig LLP has five offices in the state. This firm also offers guidance on CDFI, various tax credits, and qualified opportunity zones.