Morrison & Foerster LLP has announced that noted tax lawyer Joseph Fletcher has joined the firm as a partner in its national tax department, based in the San Francisco office. Mr. Fletcher has 18 years of tax law experience, and focuses on corporate and international taxation issues.Mr. Fletcher has advised Fortune 500 companies as well as start-ups on all aspects of corporate and partnership taxation. He counsels on a wide range of tax matters including: corporate and partnership business formation; formation and taxation of venture capital and investment funds; and cross-border acquisition of foreign companies by U.S.-based or foreign-based multinational corporations. Mr. Fletcher regularly advises companies on tax issues that arise in connection with securities offerings, as well as the licensing and sale of intellectual property.

Mr. Fletcher will be active in Morrison & Foerster’s cross-border tax practice, providing tax-planning and organizational strategies to clients with multinational ownership and operations. “A significant amount of client tax work in our San Francisco office arises from cross-border business relationships,” said Thomas A. Humphreys, co-chair of the Tax Department and head of the firm’s Federal Tax Practice Group. “Joe has a thorough understanding of U.S. tax implications associated with international M & A and corporate restructurings, as well as IP transactions. We’re happy to welcome him, and are certain he’ll enhance the firm’s tax capabilities in key markets in Asia and Europe.”

An educator and frequent speaker on business tax issues, Mr. Fletcher teaches tax law at Golden Gate University, as an adjunct professor in the Master of Laws in Taxation Program. He has taught courses such as “Taxation of Mergers and Acquisitions” and “Taxation of Intellectual Property.” Mr. Fletcher was also a panelist on the topic of “Living With Emboldened Tax Authorities: International Trends in Tax Investigations and Audits,” as part of the April 2008 Inter-Pacific Bar Association Annual Conference. He will speak at New York University’s 67th Institute on Federal Taxation on November 13. His expected topic: “By the Numbers: Coping with U.S. Tax Reporting for International Matters.”

He was formerly a partner in the San Francisco office of Holland & Knight LLP.

Mr. Fletcher earned his LL.M. in taxation from Georgetown University (1993), and his J.D. from the University of San Diego Law School (1990), where he was senior editor of the Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues. He received a B.A. in biology (with a minor in chemistry) from the University of Pennsylvania (1986). Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Fletcher was a trial attorney for the Internal Revenue Service.