Baker McKenzie promotes nine in tax practice across North America

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Baker McKenzie promotes nine in tax practice across North America

Adam Beckerink

Baker McKenzie has elected five new partners, one counsel and three directors in its tax practices in Chicago, New York and Mexico City as part of its promotions in North America.

In Chicago, Adam Beckerink and Jonathan Welbel have become partners in the tax practice. Within the same practice, Andrew O’Brien-Penney has become the director of economics and Ivan Tsios is now the director of economics and valuation services.

Beckerink advises multinational corporations and high-net-worth individuals on a range of tax issues, tax controversies and litigation, including multistate and federal tax planning and the tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions. He represents clients on state tax matters before administrative appeal boards, tax tribunals and courts in Illinois and other US states.

Welbel advises multinational corporations on transfer pricing and other international tax issues with a focus on US federal tax controversy. He helps clients navigate the audits, appeals and litigation process, and he has extensive experience working with tax court practice and procedure.

O’Brien-Penney provides clients with economic analyses and valuations to assist them in planning and supporting business reorganisations, new transfer pricing policies, transitioning to principal company structures and implementing cost sharing arrangements. He also advises on audit and dispute resolution situations, supply chain restructuring, planning, advance pricing agreements (APAs) and intellectual property migration opportunities.

Tsios provides comprehensive economic and valuation services related to transfer pricing issues and other tax matters. He assists clients with planning inter-company pricing, US and foreign documentation, negotiating APAs, restructuring inter-company arrangements, intellectual property transfers and dispute resolution. Tsios also works in the preparation valuations of businesses, intangible property and damages in mergers, acquisitions and other transactions, corporate tax planning, corporate reorganisations, antitrust and competition, and debt and equity valuation.

In New York, Paul DePasquale and Tatyana Johnson are now partners in the tax practice, and Joshua Nixt has been appointed as the director of economics.

DePasquale advises high-net-worth individuals and families on a range of matters, including cross-border investments, real estate investments, income tax and transfer tax planning, trust and estate planning and business succession, among others. He also advises multinational corporations and investment funds on US inbound and outbound international tax issues, as well as financial institutions on FATCA, CRS, withholding taxes and information reporting.

Johnson focuses her practice on US federal income taxation of corporations, with an emphasis on international tax planning. She advises clients on international mergers, acquisitions, post-acquisition and pre-disposition restructuring, spin-offs, supply chain restructuring, and other tax-related matters, including outbound and inbound tax planning, income tax treaties, efficient repatriation and intangible property migration.

In his role as director of economics, Nixt advises multinational companies across a variety of industries on transfer pricing and tax-related engagements, including planning of inter-company transactions, preparing US and foreign documentation, valuation and audit defence. His practice focuses on IP and other intangibles, and he has managed several analyses related to licensing, IP migration, and cost sharing.

In Mexico City, Victor Morales-Chavez has become a partner in the tax practice and Allan Pasalagua-Ayala is counsel.

Morales-Chavez's practice focuses on corporate taxes, non-resident taxation, international tax treaties and general tax planning. He advises multinational companies on projects related to M&A, corporate restructuring and due diligence.

Pasalagua-Ayala advises clients on transfer pricing matters, with an emphasis on economic analysis, including planning, compliance, valuations, APAs and audits in Mexico. He counsels companies from different industrial sectors on local transfer pricing matters, but has also been involved in global and regional documentation projects. He also has experience advising on business and intangible assets valuations. 

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

The controversial deal will allow US-parented groups to be carved out from key aspects of pillar two
Awards
ITR invites tax firms, in-house teams, and tax professionals to make submissions for the 2027 World Tax rankings and the 2026 ITR Tax Awards globally
Pillar two was ‘weakened’ when it altered from a multinational convention agreement to simply national domestic law, Federico Bertocchi also argued
Imposing the tax on virtual assets is a measure that appears to have no legal, economic or statistical basis, one expert told ITR
The EU has seemingly capitulated to the US’s ‘side-by-side’ demands. This may be a win for the US, but the uncertainty has only just begun for pillar two
The £7.4m buyout marks MHA’s latest acquisition since listing on the London Stock Exchange earlier this year
ITR’s most prolific stories of the year charted public pillar two spats, the continued fallout from the PwC Australia tax leaks scandal, and a headline tax fraud trial
The climbdowns pave the way for a side-by-side deal to be concluded this week, as per the US Treasury secretary’s expectation; in other news, Taft added a 10-partner tax team
A vote to be held in 2026 could create Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, a $3.6bn giant with 3,100 lawyers across the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific
Foreign companies operating in Libya face source-based taxation even without a local presence. Multinationals must understand compliance obligations, withholding risks, and treaty relief to avoid costly surprises
Gift this article