Former Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service,
Donald L. Korb joined Sullivan & Cromwell as a partner and the head of the Firm's Tax Controversy Practice in 2009. A practicing attorney for more than 37 years, both in the public and private sectors, Mr. Korb is widely recognized as one of the country's foremost tax lawyers. Public Sector Practice and Tenure with the Internal Revenue Service As Chief Counsel (2004-2009), Mr. Korb was the chief law officer for the IRS, supervising approximately 1,500 attorneys who were assigned to the IRS National Office and among the major operational divisions of the agency. He played a prominent role in increasing the effectiveness of the Chief Counsel's Office, and is best known for developing the litigation strategy that led to the stunning success by the government in litigating tax shelter cases during his four-and-a-half-year tenure.
Among the individual matters with which he was personally involved while Chief Counsel was serving as the lead negotiator in resolving a landmark transfer pricing dispute. As part of the settlement, the taxpayer made the largest single payment ever made to the IRS to resolve a tax dispute.
Prior to joining the IRS as Chief Counsel in 2004, Mr. Korb previously worked twice before in the public sector, having spent more than two years as an Assistant to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in the mid-1980s (when he was the overall coordinator of the IRS's involvement in the legislative process that resulted in the enactment of the landmark Tax Reform Act of 1986) and, at the beginning of his career, four years as an attorney adviser in the IRS Chief Counsel's Office.
Rankings and Recognitions
- Chambers USA - ranked as a leading lawyer in Tax (Washington, D.C.) (2009-2011) and Tax Controversy (National) (2010, 2011)
- International Tax Review's Tax Disputes/Controversy Leaders Guide recognized in the inaugural edition as a leading lawyer in the field of tax disputes and controversy (2011/2012)
- The Best Lawyers in America - recognized as a leading lawyer for Tax (1989-2004)
- The Legal 500, United States - recommended lawyer for Tax Controversy (2010, 2011)
Education
- 1977, Georgetown Law School, LL.M.
- 1973, Case Western Reserve Law School, J.D.
- 1970, John Carroll University, B.A.