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Turnarounds & Workouts Names 10 MoFo Lawyers as Top Bankruptcy Tax Specialists

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Morrison Foerster has been named to Turnarounds & Workouts’ list of Bankruptcy Tax Specialists in the Nation’s Major Law Firms...

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We are Morrison Foerster — a global firm of exceptional credentials. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, investment banks, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Our lawyers are committed to achieving innovative and business-minded results for our clients, while preserving the differences that make us stronger.Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

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Morrison Foerster has been named to Turnarounds & Workouts’ list of Bankruptcy Tax Specialists in the Nation’s Major Law Firms for 2025.The annual special report recognized 10 MoFo tax attorneys for their restructuring experience: partners Anthony J. Carbone, Jaclyn M. Goldberg, Philip S. Jaworskyj, Richard M. Nugent (global tax chair), Bernie J. Pistillo, Brian Christopher Radigan, Shane M. Shelley, and David B. Sturgeon; and of counsel Linda A. Arnsbarger and Rebecca M. Balinskas.MoFo represented the Unsecured Creditors’ Committee in the restructurings for Nikola Corporation; Accuride Corporation; American Tire Distributors; Fisker; Wesco Aircraft Holdings, Inc.; Thrasio Holdings, Inc.; and Peer Street, Inc.; and represented the Debtors in the CalPlant I Holdco, LLC; CalPlant I, LLC; Columbia Pulp I, LLC (lead counsel to the receiver); and UpHealth Inc. (special litigation counsel) restructurings.Turnarounds & Workouts is a monthly newsletter for corporate restructuring professionals, academics, and business journalists tracking distressed businesses in the United States and Canada. The publication’s special report listing Bankruptcy Tax Specialists was published in its <a href="https://www.turnaroundsworkouts.com/product/turnarounds-workouts-june-2025/" target="_blank">June 2025 issue</a>.

Turnarounds & Workouts Names 10 MoFo Lawyers as Top Bankruptcy Tax Specialists

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Richard Nugent is a partner in the firm’s New York office and chair of its Tax practice.Richard has over 25 years of experience advising on the tax aspects of complex transactions including public and private M&A, spin-offs, joint ventures, internal restructurings, and financings and capital markets transactions. He also advises debtors and creditors within and outside of bankruptcy.Richard has been recognized in Chambers USA, where he is praised as “an extremely knowledgeable and dedicated attorney” and “well-versed in communicating complex issues.” The Legal 500 describes Richard as having a “deep understanding of the business, including product supply, marketing, and distribution” which clients describe as “priceless when representing us in deal matters.” Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Richard was a tax partner at another international law firm in New York. He serves on the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association Tax Section and is a member of the Tax Forum. A sought-after speaker, Richard frequently presents on tax topics for Practising Law Institute programs.Richard holds an LL.M. with distinction from Georgetown University, a J.D. with honors from Rutgers School of Law – Newark, and a B.A., summa cum laude, from Saint Peter’s University. He also served as a law clerk to Judge Richard F. Suhrheinrich of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit and Judge Robert P. Ruwe of the U.S. Tax Court.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>Represented Centuri Holdings and parent company Southwest Gas Holdings in $238 million public offering of common stock</li><li>Represented Paine Schwartz Partners, a global leader in sustainable food chain investing, in its investment in Chex Finer Foods, a value-added specialty food distributor</li><li>Represented the board of Continental Disc Corporation, a portfolio company of Tinicum, in connection to its sale to Baker Hughes, an energy technology company</li><li>Represented Hooter’s Inc. and Hoot Owl Restaurants, L.L.C. in the acquisition of over 100 restaurants from Hooters of America LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 protection on March 31st in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court</li><li>Represented Centuri Holdings and parent company Southwest Gas Holdings in $353 million IPO and concurrent private placement</li><li>Represented C2 Capital Partners in its investment in Stella & Chewy’s, a leading North American pet food manufacturer</li></ul>

Richard Nugent

Chair of the Tax Practice

Anthony J. Carbone is a partner in our New York Office and the former chair of the Tax practice. His practice focuses on tax planning strategies and the tax consequences of a wide range of business, investment and capital markets transactions in the U.S. and internationally.He advises clients on all forms of mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, fund formation and leveraged buyouts representing private equity funds, deal sponsors, investment banks, commercial banks and hedge funds, as well as venture capital, real estate and other funds (foreign and U.S.), acquiring target companies, and management groups.Tony has extensive experience on the tax aspects of bankruptcy matters and has been involved in many high-profile matters. He also has extensive experience in the tax aspects of corporate finance transactions representing both financial institutions and their customers and clients. He advises banks and other offshore clients on the tax aspects of their U.S. and offshore business activities, and their offerings of securities and other financial products into the U.S. His experience includes foreign investments in the U.S. and abroad, international joint ventures and international finance transactions.Tony also has extensive experience in a wide variety of securities offerings, including complex debt securities, securitization transactions and derivatives. His expertise includes debt securities that contain an embedded derivative, including finance instruments with returns linked to various types of reference assets.Tony handles federal, state and local tax controversies involving both administration proceedings and litigation in federal and state courts. Tony has also been involved in a number of cases challenging the applicability and/or constitutionality of certain New York State and city tax provisions and has successfully had such proceedings transferred from the State Tax Administration Tribunal to the New York state courts.Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Tony was a tax partner at a large, international law firm based in New York and prior to that he was a partner at Bingham McCutchen LLP, where he was co-leader of the Tax Group, a former deputy chair of the corporate area, and co-managing partner of Bingham’s New York office. Tony is a member of the American Bar Association (Tax Section) and the New York State Bar Association (Tax Section). He is the former President of the New York Chapter of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business Alumni Association and has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the university’s alumni organization.Tony is a Certified Public Accountant.

Anthony Carbone

Partner

Jaclyn is a tax partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Morrison Foerster.Jaclyn represents clients on the U.S. federal income taxation of private equity, venture capital and hedge funds, including credit, energy, real estate, and co-investment funds. She advises fund sponsors in private fund formation and operation, including preparation and negotiation of fund disclosure and organizational documents. In addition, she advises private fund investors, including sovereign governments, insurance companies and fund of fund platforms, on side letter agreements. Jaclyn earned her law degree from the George Washington University Law School. She also earned her M.B.A. from the George Washington University, School of Business and her Executive LL.M. in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center. Prior to private practice, Jaclyn worked for the IRS Office of Chief Counsel’s office of Passthroughs and Special Industries, where she specialized in partnership and S corporation taxation.

Jaclyn Goldberg

Phil advises clients on U.S. federal income tax considerations in connection with domestic and cross-border transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, capital markets transactions, derivatives, and other financial products. He regularly represents clients in a wide variety of industries, including foreign and domestic banks, financial institutions, technology and Fintech companies, investment funds, and companies in the consumer and hospitality industries.Phil’s practice also includes advising on all U.S. federal income tax aspects of formation, ongoing operations, and compliance matters for public and private REITs and real estate funds, private equity funds, and joint ventures. This broad experience allows him to provide commercially minded advice and deliver practical solutions to the firm’s clients. In addition to transactional tax matters, Phil enjoys helping clients navigate and successfully resolve administrative matters with the IRS, as well as complex tax controversies. Phil regularly contributes to MoFo’s pro bono and community engagement initiatives, including education policy and advocacy matters.

Philip Jaworskyj

Bernie Pistillo is a partner in the San Francisco office of the firm’s Federal Tax Group. He regularly advises on the U.S. federal income tax aspects of international and domestic mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings and spin-offs, and tax controversy matters in the international area, particularly transfer pricing, the development and exploitation of technology and intellectual property and the structuring of international operations for both start-up entities and existing corporate groups. His practice involves the coordination of tax laws in multiple jurisdictions to develop and implement cross-jurisdictional tax planning, overall operational synergies and worldwide tax minimization strategies. He also is regularly involved in the negotiation of strategic joint ventures and partnerships and the structuring of private equity funds and their investments. Bernie also advises on financial product development and the tax aspects of financial institution and insurance company operations.Bernie is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at Tulane University School of Law, the Steering Committee of the Northern California Chapter of the U.S.A. Branch of the International Fiscal Association, the Planning Committee for the USC Gould School of Law Tax Institute, and the Tax Review and the Tax Club, both in New York City. He is admitted to practice in California, New York and Arizona.He is a frequent lecturer and author on matters relating to international taxation and corporate taxation generally.Bernie is recommended by Legal 500 US for US Taxes: Contentious, US Taxes: Non-Contentious and International Tax.Recent Client Transactions include:<ul><li>Softbank Corp. in connection with its $1 billion investment in WorldVu Satellites Ltd (OneWeb) and of SoftBank and OneWeb in connection with the negotiation and execution of an agreement pursuant to which OneWeb will merge with Intelsat SA in a share-for-share transaction.</li><li>Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd in making an $800 million investment in Verily Life Sciences (formerly Google Life Sciences), Alphabet’s health-focused subsidiary.</li><li>Boyd Gaming Corporation in the sale of its 50% equity interest, valued at $900 million, in Marina District Development Holding Company, LLC, the parent company of Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to MGM Resorts International.</li><li>The co-founder of Broadcom Corp. in connection with its acquisition by Avago Technologies Ltd. in a cash and stock transaction with a combined enterprise value of $77 billion.</li><li>VMWare in planning a joint venture with EMC Corporation to form a new cloud services business, as well as in connection with the planned $67 billion acquisition of EMC by Dell Inc. using tracking stock of VMWare.</li><li>McKesson Corporation in numerous acquisitions in the healthcare and related areas.</li><li>SoftBank Corp. in connection with its acquisition of a 78% interest in Sprint Nextel for an enterprise value of $44.8 billion.</li><li>MicroPort Scientific Corp. in connection with its acquisition of the worldwide OrthoRecon operating segment of Wright Medical Group Inc.</li><li>Toshiba Tec Corp. on its $874 million acquisition of the worldwide retail store solutions business of IBM Corp.</li><li>Textainer Group Holdings Ltd. in connection with a review of its worldwide operating structure to improve financial and legal efficiencies.</li><li>Novellus Inc. in its tax-free stock-for-stock acquisition by Lam Research Corp valued at $3.3 billion.</li><li>Carlyle Group in its acquisition of Walbro Engine Management from Sun Capital Partners and related LBO financing</li></ul>

Bernie Pistillo

Brian Radigan is a partner in the Federal Tax Group at Morrison Foerster. He has a broad tax practice advising U.S. and non-U.S. clients on complex tax structuring and the tax aspects of corporate transactions.Brian advises private equity funds, startup entities, REITs, and established multinational corporations on the tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, cross-border corporate restructurings, and capital markets transactions. He has a particular focus on international tax, helping clients on cross-border structure formation and tax-driven internal reorganization, navigating tax laws across multiple jurisdictions to maximize global tax efficiency.Brian regularly advises emerging companies and venture capital firms on the tax aspects of capital raises, changes to capital structure, and general tax planning, providing strategic insight and tailored tax solutions to drive tax-efficient growth. He also advises financial institutions and corporations on capital markets offerings, financial products, and FATCA compliance.Brian is Recommended for US Taxes: Non-Contentious by Legal 500 US 2024.Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Brian spent over a decade as a senior in-house tax advisor at General Electric and, more recently, as the global head of tax at New Fortress Energy (NFE). He structured the transition of NFE from an Up-C investment of Fortress Investment Group to a multibillion-dollar, fully public company. In his in-house roles, he served as a trusted advisor to senior executives, founders, and board members on various high-profile transactions, including a $2 billion LNG infrastructure joint venture between NFE and Apollo and a $5.1 billion acquisition by NFE of Hygo Energy Transition and Golar LNG Partners, LP.

Brian Radigan

Shane Shelley is a partner in the Federal Tax Group and is based in Morrison Foerster’s San Diego office. He has a comprehensive tax practice with a focus on U.S. federal income tax matters.Shane advises on the tax aspects of most business transactions, including M&A, fund formations, joint ventures, spin-offs and divestitures, international structuring, capital markets offerings, and venture capital investments. In addition to his general tax practice, he offers a vast depth of knowledge in a variety of complex tax areas, including REITs and real estate, renewable energy, and financial products. He counsels his REIT and real estate clients regarding tax compliance and structuring in connection with their significant offerings, M&A transactions, U.S. and non‑U.S. fund formations and joint ventures, property contributions, like-kind exchanges, and other transactions. He advises clients in the renewable energy sector with respect to tax matters through all phases of project development, including project M&A, “beginning of construction” issues, tax equity structuring matters, and the monetization of tax benefits. Clients have described Shane as “one of the brightest tax minds” they have ever worked with, having “the rare ability to simultaneously think like a tax expert and a business leader.”Shane is Chambers-ranked in the areas of both Tax and REITs and is recommended by Legal 500, Taxes, Non-Contentious and International. He is the author or co-author of a number of articles, including Federal Income Tax Considerations in Going Private Transactions, Tax Considerations for Venture Capital and Technology-Related Start-Ups, and the Taxation of REITs and Shareholders in PLI’s Tax Practice Series. He speaks and lectures regularly on a variety of tax topics. Shane is an adjunct professor at the University of San Diego School of Law, where he teaches partnership taxation and the taxation of REITs and related real estate transactions. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.

Shane M. Shelley

David Sturgeon is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Federal Tax practice.Dave advises clients on a broad range of complex business transactions, including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, spin-offs and other divestitures, as well as financings, refinancings, restructurings and other business transactions.He earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was a member of the Chicago Journal of International Law, and received his Master of Laws in taxation from New York University School of Law.Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Dave was an associate at a law firm in New York, where he represented public companies, financial institutions, private equity clients and other sponsor entities across industries in an extensive range of business transactions.

Dave Sturgeon

Linda Arnsbarger advises nonprofits and businesses on a wide range of issues relating to the regulation of exempt organizations and the unique issues raised in doing business with them.Ms. Arnsbarger’s clients include private foundations, public charities, donor-advised funds, colleges, universities, and private schools, trade associations, state instrumentalities, foreign charities and their U.S. affiliates, and philanthropists. Private foundation issues include private foundation excise tax issues relating to grantmaking and impact investments. Philanthropic matters include philanthropic structuring, donor-advised funds, supporting organizations, and the transfer of closely-held businesses to charitable ownership. She advises charities and universities regarding structuring charities and related for-profit entities, minimizing taxable unrelated business income, fundraising, international grantmaking, anti-terrorism guidelines, governance, compensation arrangements, and regulation of lobbying activities. She has worked with clients on issues relating to complex corporate structuring, conversions, technology transfer, joint ventures and strategic alliances, venture philanthropy investment funds, and intellectual property.She also advises companies engaged in corporate philanthropy or doing business with nonprofits, impact investors, a wide range of social enterprises, including social investing funds, other investment funds with nonprofit investors, and hybrid models of philanthropy.Her state practice includes Attorney General oversight of major transactions, charity registration, charitable solicitation and Internet solicitation, charitable gaming, and unrelated business taxable income. Representative clients include the ACT/IntermediaryEd, Apple, Breakthrough Energy, Business For Social Responsibility, Clooney Foundation for Justice, Common Sense Media, EarthJustice, Emerson Collective, Gates Foundation, GoFundMe, Great Minds, King Philanthropies, Medicines360, Mozilla Foundation, Nature Conservancy, Northwestern University, Omidyar Network, Patagonia, PRIME Coalition, Rockefeller Foundation, Sobrato Family Foundation, UPS Foundation, and World Wildlife Fund.

Linda Arnsbarger

Of Counsel

Rebecca Midori Ulich-Balinskas is of counsel in the Tax Group and is based in Morrison Foerster’s New York office. Her practice focuses on U.S. federal, state and local tax transactional and controversy matters.Rebecca provides U.S. federal, state and local tax advice, guidance, and representation on most business transactions, including M&A, reorganizations, fund formations and fund investments, joint ventures, spin-offs and divestitures, international structuring, and capital markets offerings. Her state and local tax practice encompasses matters across the U.S. regarding sales and use tax, franchise and income tax, gross receipts tax, excise tax, unclaimed property, and real estate transfer tax, among others. Her clients include large multinational companies, banks, financial institutions, Fintech companies, REITs, joint ventures, start-ups, and fund sponsors and investors. She also has extensive experience representing clients before the IRS and in state and local tax controversy matters at the audit, administrative, and judicial levels. In addition, her work includes advising non-profits and charities in their formation and/or ongoing charitable activities.Rebecca has written on various tax issues and has spoken at several tax conferences.Rebecca obtained her LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law. She earned her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law, where she served as an Articles Editor of the St. John’s Law Review. Rebecca received her B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Columbia University, Barnard College.