Felix Laughlin is a Senior Counsel in Caplin & Drysdale's Washington, D.C., office. He joined the firm in 2012.
Services
Mr. Laughlin advises corporations and international organizations on tax matters, and handles large-case controversies before the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Federal Courts.
Mr. Laughlin has worked extensively as an advocate on behalf of corporate clients in large-case tax disputes with the IRS. He has been the lead tax controversy advisor for a number of major U.S. corporations and has handled some of the most significant tax cases litigated in recent times.
In one such case, Mr. Laughlin's legal team won a victory for the Federal National Mortgage Association in a U.S. Supreme Court case allowing tax-deductible losses on exchanges of mortgage pools having "substantially identical" characteristics, establishing the "hair-trigger" nature of the realization rule in Treasury Regulation section 1.1001-1(a). Cottage Savings & Loan Assoc. v. Commissioner, 111 S. Ct. 1503 (1991).
Mr. Laughlin is recognized as a leader in the field of Tax Law in Best Lawyers in America.
Admissions & Education
Bar & Court Admissions
- District of Columbia
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1970
- U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, 1988
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit, 1992
- U.S. Tax Court, 1968
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims, 1969
- U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, 1972
Education
LL.M., Georgetown University Law Center, 1971
J.D., University of Tennessee College of Law, 1967, Order of the Coif
B.S., The University of Tennessee, 1967
Government Service
From 1967 to 1971, Mr. Laughlin served in several senior positions in the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service where he had policy and technical responsibility for corporate transactions and tax accounting issues. During this period, he had responsibility for the Corporate Reorganization Branch of the Interpretive Division of the Chief Counsel's Office.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
Other Professional Affiliations
Member, American Bar Association
Member, Federal Bar Association
Past Chairman, Federal Bar Association Tax Section
Past President, National Bonsai Foundation
Past Chairman, World Bonsai Friendship Federation
