My journey to Baker Tax Law has been an exciting one.
Since I was first exposed to tax law, I found that in many ways it is a lot like a puzzle. I have always enjoyed completing puzzles and solving problems, so I was naturally drawn to tax.
After I graduated from the University of Virginia, I worked at PwC for a couple of years in the tax department. I wanted to focus more on tax law (rather than tax accounting), so I decided to attend law school at Washington University in St. Louis. After my second year of law school, I was a summer associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP, and I accepted an offer to be an associate in the tax department post-graduation.
I had a great experience at Cravath, and I learned a lot there, both from a substantive tax law perspective and a client service perspective.[1] I worked on many types of legal matters (M&A, capital markets, etc.), but I felt like there were other areas of tax law I would also be interested in, and that I wasn’t getting as much exposure to as I would have liked.
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to make a move to Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP, where I learned a lot and had a chance to work on a similar mix of matters, as well as some items that I didn’t see much of at Cravath (such as complex financial products). After a few years at Skadden, I started to consider other opportunities, and I found a great one at Clifford Chance.
My time at Clifford Chance further broadened my skill set. I had the opportunity to work on a variety of exciting projects, including aircraft financing transactions (and other fixed asset grantor trust transactions) and crypto transactions. COVID-19 hit while I was at Clifford Chance, and I got a taste of working remotely. I also started to feel the pull toward a more entrepreneurial environment, which led me to Wilson Sonsini.
At Wilson Sonsini, I became familiar with Section 1202 (the qualified small business stock (QSBS) exclusion), as well as many issues that many early-stage companies encounter and what I sometimes refer to as “Silicon Valley”-style deals (I am very familiar with what I sometimes refer to as “New York”-style deals from my prior experience).
But I still felt like something was missing. During peak COVID-19, I was able to work from home, which meant I could spend more time with my children. As return-to-office became the norm, I felt like I was losing the opportunity to be present with my children during their formative years. And the commute felt like it was getting longer (train delays became a running joke).
So I decided to join Baker Tax Law. An entrepreneurial law firm with a dynamic practice, and a 100% remote working environment (often saving ~2.5 hours of commuting time per in-office day). We advise law firm clients (and their clients) with respect to tax and compensation-related aspects of transactions, and we also advise direct-engage clients on tax and compensation matters. We work on a variety of matters, including M&A, QSBS, and many others (you can find a longer list here: Practice Areas | Baker Tax Law).
And with the time we don’t spend commuting, we are able to spend more time helping our clients and/or doing other things that help us recharge (such as spending time with our families, or solving puzzles[2]), which allows us to be more effective in serving our clients.
Jason Sacks is the co-chair of the Tax practice group at Baker Tax Law. For additional information, please contact jason@mbakertaxlaw.com.
[1] The same is true for each of the other firms I have worked at.
[2] I recently discovered that LinkedIn has daily puzzles. Please feel free to add me as a connection on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonasacks); if you add me and complete the daily puzzles, you can see how long it takes me to complete them.