As most business appraisers realize by now, the recent McCord reversal didn’t swing on a valuation issue. “When you couple the post-valuation date events with the burden of proof obligation, the [5th Circuit] Court was left with no course but to go with the Taxpayer,” says Lance Hall, ASA (FMV Opinions, Inc., New York). “Proof positive that John Porter is the greatest trust and estates litigation attorney in the country.”

Porter, a partner with Houston’s Baker Botts, may deserve much of the credit for the latest BV-related appellate victory. (And he may soon stake another, as he’s the taxpayer’s attorney on the Jelke appeal, currently pending in the 11th Circuit; see BVWire # 48-1). “From my reading [of McCord], John’s victory was 100% a legal gamesmanship win,” Hall says. “He’s the closest thing we have to a Rock Star (in the mode of Eric Clapton) in the T&E business.”

Porter's next appearance will be in BVR’s Telephone Conference, “McCord Reversal and the Future of Marketability Discounts,” on October 18, 2006. Don’t miss this legal maverick as he takes the stage with Will Frazier, ASA of HFBE, Houston—the taxpayer’s appraiser in the original case, and also Steve Akers, Esq. of Bessemer Trust Company (Dallas). To register, click here.