Phillip Pepper Associate     Areas of Practice: Tax Law Estate Planning Partnerships, Limited Liability Companies, and Joint Ventures Real Estate Investment Funds Education: University of California, Berkley, B.A. George Washington University Law School, Juris Doctor, with honors, 2001 New York University School of Law, Master of Laws in Taxation, 2003 Admitted to the New York, New Jersey and California State Bars

Phillip Pepper is an associate in the Tax Law and Estate Planning groups of Meltzer Lippe.  Phillip advises on the tax planning and structuring aspects of sophisticated business and investment transactions.  In addition, Phillip represents clients in tax controversies with the IRS and New York State.

Prior to joining Meltzer Lippe, Phillip practiced tax law in the New York City office of Kronish, Lieb, Weiner & Hellman, LLP, which became Cooley Godward Kronish LLP.

Phillip’s practice focuses principally on the tax aspects of forming, operating, and exiting different forms of business entities, including partnerships, limited liability companies, C and S corporations, investment funds, and real estate investment trusts.  Phillip has advised on the tax consequences of: mergers, acquisitions, and dispositions of businesses; restructurings; tax-free reorganizations; spin-offs and divisions; dissolutions and liquidations; contributions, distributions, redemptions, and other transactions between entities and their owners; and equity-based and deferred compensation.  Phillip has successfully requested and received private letter rulings from the IRS.

At Meltzer Lippe, Phillip’s practice includes many areas of taxation but a significant focus has been on the tax aspects of sophisticated partnership and real estate matters, including complex real estate partnerships, partnerships with special and target allocations, freeze partnerships, leveraged partnerships, partnership mergers and divisions, sophisticated like-kind exchanges, disguised sales, mixing bowl transactions, guaranteed payments, partnership debt and equity, and compensatory and carried interests.

Recently, Phillip has advised debtors and entities in financial distress on the tax aspects of debt and equity restructurings and workouts, restructuring partnership recourse and nonrecourse debt, debt modifications, debt acquisitions by related persons, debt-for-equity exchanges, Crane and Tufts gain from foreclosures and other dispositions of property subject to nonrecourse debt, and cancellation of debt income.  Phillip has also made determinations of controlled group status for purposes of employer withdrawal liability.

Phillip has published in the area of tax law.  In addition, Phillip has taught a graduate-level course in taxation as an adjunct professor at Baruch College.

Phillip received his Juris Doctor (J.D.), with honors, from the George Washington University Law School and his Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation from New York University School of Law.  Phillip graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A., with honors, in East Asian Studies.  He is admitted to the State Bars of New York, New Jersey, and California.