Craig is a partner in the tax section of Porter & Hedges. He has been selected as a "Texas Super Lawyer" in Tax Law in surveys conducted by Texas Monthly each year since 2004. He was also named as a "Texas Rising Star" in an earlier Texas Monthly survey. Craig has over 15 years experience providing solutions to a wide variety of tax problems, and counseling private companies and their owners regarding general business and planning matters. His tax practice involves general domestic and international planning, with an emphasis on joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, choice of entity considerations, and corporate finance transactions. Craig works with company owners and executives, company chief financial officers and tax directors, outside accountants, bankers, and other advisors to provide sophisticated solutions to tax puzzles involving, for example, corporate formations and reorganizations, Subchapter S corporations, partnership formations and restructurings, OID, golden parachute payments, consolidated return, cancellation-of-debt, NOL, AMT, and tax accounting matters. Craig also regularly represents companies and their owners during IRS exams and through IRS Appeals (including LMSB, SB/SE and TE/GE cases), as well as before the Texas Comptrollers office.

Craig's private company practice involves counseling private companies and their owners regarding general organizational and operational matters, and in connection with selling their businesses, buying other businesses, entering into joint ventures, and admitting key employees and investors as new owners. He regularly advises his clients in connection with governance issues, buy-sell transactions, employment matters, leasing transactions, and borrowing arrangements.  Craig has substantial experience advising automobile dealers, specialty manufacturers and fabricators, and professional services firms. He also has substantial experience advising nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations on all organizational and operational matters, including public charities, private foundations, and trade associations.

Craig was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston Law Center for several years, where he taught classes in Business Planning and in Partnership Taxation.

Representative Experience

Tax

• Special tax counsel to developers and investors in connection with structuring the organization of and investments in companies, and other arrangements, for the acquisition, development, management, and disposition of real estate assets.
• Special tax counsel to operators, investors, and other participants in connection with structuring the organization of and investments in companies, and other arrangements, for the acquisition, development, management and disposition of oil, gas, and other energy assets.
• Special tax counsel to founders, owners, and investors in connection with structuring the organization of and investments in new, growing, and mature companies in numerous industries reflecting the general economy.
• Special tax counsel to promoters and investors in connection with organizing and structuring investments in private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds.
• Special tax counsel in connection with structuring US cross-border transactions.
• Special tax counsel to buyers and sellers in connection structuring the acquisition and disposition of private and public companies.
• Special tax counsel to founders and investors in connection with structuring early stage, growth, and other investments in operating companies.
• Special tax counsel to private and public companies and their owners in connection with resolving civil tax controversies with the IRS through examination and IRS Appeals.
• Special tax counsel to private and public companies and their owners in connection with resolving tax controversies with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
• Special tax counsel in connection with structuring the settlement of litigation matters.

Corporate

• Counseling founders, promoters, and investors in connection with organizing and structuring investments in new, growing, and mature private companies in a variety of industries reflecting the greater Houston, Texas economy. Specific industry experience includes automotive, construction, consulting, financial services, oil field services, real estate development and investment, specialty fabrication, and specialty tubing.
• Counseling private companies and their owners in connection with structuring relationships with key employees, and planning for succession.
• Counseling private companies and their owners in connection with major transactions, including a sale of a flagship or subsidiary company, the acquisition of another company, or transactions involving internal reorganizations.
• Counseling professional service firms, including law firms, accounting firms, and medical practices, regarding general organizational and operational matters.
• Counseling executives in connection with entering into employment arrangements, and with respect to major transactions involving employers (including sale transactions).
• General counsel to private companies and their owners regarding day-to-day operational and other recurring matters.

Nonprofit / Tax-Exempt Organizations

• Counseled numerous companies, benefactors, and charitable organizations in connection with the creation of charitable organizations, and making donations and grants, to assist with recovery from hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
• Represented numerous private foundations and public charities in connection with incorporation and obtaining recognition of tax-exempt status under IRC § 501(c)(3) (including the Concord Coalition, Seeds of Peace, Baseball USA, and the Briarmeadow Charter School Parent Teacher Association).
• Represented Houston-based organization on a mission to assist disabled Texans in connection with obtaining recognition of tax-exempt status under IRC § 501(c)(3) and public charity status under IRC § 509(a)(1) after initial denial by IRS examination group.
• Represented nationwide charitable organization with over 30 regional and local affiliates in connection with obtaining recognition of tax-exempt status under IRC § 501(c)(3) and public charity status under IRC § 509(a)(1) from IRS Appeals.
• Represented US charitable organization operating school system in the country of Senegal regarding obtaining recognition of tax-exempt status under IRC § 501(c)(3) and public charity status under IRC § 509(a)(1).
• Represented nonprofit medical practice group in connection with obtaining recognition of tax-exempt status under IRC 501(c)(3).
• Advise numerous charitable organizations and donors (including various public corporations) in connection with structuring international grant-making activities.

Professional / Civic Affiliations

• Martindale Hubbell AV Rated Attorney
• Board of Trustees, Foundation for the Retarded
• American Bar Association
• Texas Bar Association
• California Bar Association
• District of Columbia Bar Association

News

• Seventy percent of Porter & Hedges' Attorneys Named as 2007 Texas Super Lawyers (9/17/2007)
• 27 Porter & Hedges' Attorneys Named as 2006 Texas Super Lawyers (9/25/2006)
• Two Porter & Hedges' Partners Author Articles for Houston Business Journal (5/8/2006)
• Seventy Percent of Porter & Hedges' Partners Selected as Super Lawyers (10/1/2005)
• Ten Porter & Hedges' Lawyers Named Rising Stars in 2004 Survey (7/1/2004)

Publications

• "Too Much of a Good Thing: Fallout From the Carried Interest Scandal," Houston Tax Roundtable (11/14/2007)
• Structuring Deal To Reduce Tax Levels Can Help When Money's Due (4/14/2006)

Events

• "Invisibility Cloaks for Corporations (Disregarded Entities in Corporate Transactions)," 26th Annual Tax & Business Planning Seminar, Houston (1/1/2003)
• "Mergers and Acquisitions: Basic Concepts and Current Issues," Texas Society of CPAs, 8th Annual CPE Family Conference, Galveston (1/1/2003)
• "Mergers and Acquisitions: Current Developments Under Section 368," Houston Area Tax Forums (1/1/2002)
• "Current Developments for Passthrough Entities: Partnership Profits Interests and Options," Houston Area Tax Forums (1/1/2002)
• "Judicial Highlights," 24th Annual Tax Planning Seminar, Houston (1/1/2001)
• "Business and Tax Considerations in Partnership Exit Strategies," 22nd Annual Tax Planning Seminar, Houston (1/1/1999)
• "A Birdseye View of the M&A Tax Forest," Tax Executives Institute, Houston Chapter Tax School (1/1/1998)
• "Tax Considerations When Structuring Mergers and Acquisitions," 20th Annual Tax Planning Seminar, Houston (1/1/1997)
• "Advances S Corporation Problems," Texas Society of CPAs, CPE Classes, Houston and San Antonio (1/1/1996)
• "IP Tax Traps—What Every IP Lawyers Should Know," State Bar of Texas, Intellectual Property Law Institute, San Antonio (1/1/1996)
• "Intellectual Property: How to Play It Smart," 19th Annual Tax Planning Seminar, Houston (1/1/1995)