"Ken “specializes in international tax of the utmost complexity.”"
Legal 500 2008
Kenneth Klein, a firmwide Practice Leader for Mayer Brown’s Tax Transactions & Planning department, concentrates his practice on international taxation, tax planning, tax transactions, tax controversies, and public policy.
His tax practice experience has included planning, structuring/restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, other transactions, regulations, legislation, private letter rulings, examinations, administrative appeals, and amicus briefs. He has
represented domestic and international clients in numerous industries, including manufacturing, financial institutions, software, transportation, pharmaceuticals, services, real estate, agricultural, trading, and entertainment, among others.
Ken has experience with
outbound investments, inbound investments, structuring/restructuring, joint ventures, income bifurcation and amalgamation, controlled foreign corporations (subpart F), investments in US property, offshore intangibles, manufacturing, contract manufacturing, transportation, active royalties and rentals, software, other high tech, services, trading, insurance, source of income, foreign tax credits, and interest and other expense allocation and apportionment. His financial institutions experience extends to cross-border financings, portfolio interest, conduit financing arrangements, withholding tax, tax treaties, investment funds (stock, securities, commodities, venture capital, real estate and shipping), swaps, other derivatives, CDOs, other structured finance vehicles, catastrophe bonds, US and foreign stock and securities lending, foreign tax credit, controlled foreign corporations, source of income, and transfer pricing. He also has experience with the taxation of artists and athletes and international individual tax planning.
Prior to working at Mayer Brown, Ken worked at the IRS, first as Assistant Branch Chief and Attorney, Legislation & Regulations Division and General Litigation Division (1977-1981), and later as the Associate Chief Counsel (Technical) (1988-1990). Ken was an associate and then a tax partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft from 1981-1988 and 1990-2002. He also was Fellow of the American Society of International Law (1976-1977).
Ken has "received accolades for his skill in international taxation" (
Chambers USA 2006) and has been lauded by clients for his “sophisticated cross-border tax planning, structuring and restructuring for a number of US and non-US multinationals” (
Chambers USA 2004-2005).
Chambers USA 2011 notes he is “understated yet talented.” He has been named as a leading tax lawyer for seven consecutive years by
Chambers USA (2005-2011) and for four consecutive years by
Legal 500 (2008-2011). Additionally in 2011,
Legal 500 highlighted him as a “Leading Lawyer” for International Tax. Ken was named to the World’s Leading Tax Advisers (
Euromoney/International Tax Review, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010), recognized as a leading tax controversy adviser in the
International Tax Review 2011 Tax Controversy Leaders guide, and named among the “Best Tax Lawyers" in Washington, D.C. by
Washingtonian Magazine (2011) and
Washington Post Magazine (2006-2011). Ken has also been featured as a leading tax lawyer in Washington, D.C. by
Super Lawyers for five consecutive years (2007-2011).
Mayer Brown’s Tax practice is ranked Tier 1 by the
International Tax Review.
Ken has been a speaker at numerous tax seminars.