3 Transfer Pricing specialists leave Duff & Phelps for DLA Piper

[private]DLA Piper LLP (US) has announced that a group of three professionals have joined the International Tax practice in New York and Los Angeles. The group is led by transfer pricing economist Clarke Norton, and includes Ray Brown and Paul Burns. Norton and Brown join DLA Piper as principal economists in the Tax group, while Burns joins the firm as of counsel.

Norton was previously co-leader of the transfer pricing practice at a leading investment advisory and valuation firm where she furthered her reputation as a leading authority in the transfer pricing community. She has spent 17 years in the industry, and previously served as the Chief Economist of the Internal Revenue Service Advance Pricing Agreement Program (“APA”). During her time in the APA, Norton helped negotiate hundreds of bilateral tax agreements with foreign governments around the world. Norton and her team currently advise Fortune 500 companies on all aspects of transfer pricing, including APA and Competent Authority matters. Norton is one of the world’s most recognized and experienced practitioners in transfer pricing for the apparel and footwear industries. She will co-head the DLA Piper transfer pricing economist group with Bernhard von Thaden.

“We have seen a rapid growth in the demand for international tax and transfer pricing services over the past decade, but very few firms have the range of capabilities and resources to fully advise clients in this area. The ability to provide tax, legal and transfer pricing services at one firm creates compelling value for our clients; the addition of this group will further strengthen our existing team of international tax lawyers and transfer pricing economists providing these services,” said David Colker, Global Chair of the Tax practice. “Through years at the IRS and later in private practice, Clarke and her team have become veterans in some of the most sophisticated areas of international tax, specifically the negotiation of Advance Pricing Agreements, Competent Authority representations and transfer pricing audit defense for large companies. We’re thrilled to have them join the firm.”

“I am very excited to join DLA Piper and to leverage the existing capabilities of the team and the DLA global platform to serve clients,” said Norton. “The ability to offer international tax services, transfer pricing economic analysis and legal implementation under one roof is a winning combination. I look forward to helping grow the DLA Piper transfer pricing practice.”

Norton and her team have a long track record advising multinational corporations in the retail, apparel and footwear industries in particular. Norton will be based in New York, while Brown and Burns will be located in Los Angeles.

More About Clarke Norton and Team

Norton focuses her practice on consumer products and retail operations and has extensive experience in supply chain and procurement transfer pricing for multinational corporations. She has served as an expert economist for a US Attorney’s Office criminal investigation, frequently speaks and writes on transfer pricing and business planning, and has been named one of the World’s Leading Transfer Pricing Advisors by International Tax Review. Norton received an MPIA in international management and finance and a BA in economics from the University of California at San Diego.

Ray Brown has been working in the transfer pricing arena for more than a decade and has a wide range of experience representing Fortune 500 companies. Brown received his undergraduate degree in economics from UCLA and his MBA from University of Southern California.

Paul Burns is a California and New Jersey admitted lawyer who helps clients avoid or resolve transfer pricing disputes by way of traditional audit defense, representation before the Advance Pricing Agreement Program or representation before the US Competent Authority. In addition, he brings his dispute resolution experience to bear in counseling clients on transfer pricing and related international tax planning and compliance matters. Burns has over 10 years of experience working with Fortune 500 companies and previously worked at the IRS as a senior litigator. He received a JD from the University of Southern California and an LLM in tax from NYU.
[/private] About DLA Piper’s Global Tax Advisory Services

With more than 250 tax lawyers and economists in offices throughout Europe, Asia and the United States, DLA Piper’s global tax advisory services help tax departments of multinational companies address the complex challenges of international commerce and business operations. Lawyers at DLA Piper provide these tax services across a broad global platform, while at the same time offering clients the benefits of the lawyer-client and work-product privileges, access to a broad range of supporting legal services and no Sarbanes-Oxley limits.