D. Robert Morris

Connecticut

Pullman & Comley LLC
850 Main Street
P.O. Box 7006
Bridgeport, CT 06601-7006

Tel: 203.330.2109

Email: rmorris@pullcom.com
Web: www.pullcom.com

D. Robert Morris leads the Tax Section of Pullman & Comley’s Business Organizations and Finance Department.

Rob has extensive experience in federal and state tax planning and disputes, mergers and acquisitions, general corporate, partnership and limited liability issues, private securities offerings and estate planning.

His clients include a wide variety of closely held business entities, as well as individuals, trusts and estates.

Rob was the chairman of the firm for 20 years, and he uses the business management and leadership skills that he learned in those roles to assist and advise his clients in business and personal planning.

Representative Experience

  • Tax planning for closely held corporations and individuals in connection with structuring and implementing business transactions
  • Representation before the Internal Revenue Service and Connecticut Department of Revenue Services in contesting proposed tax assessments
  • Estate planning for individuals and owners of closely held corporations
  • Represented a limited partner in acquisition of a minority interest in the New York Yankees
  • The purchase and sale of closely held businesses
  • Venture capital work, including the structuring of investments and the preparation of offering materials for non-public offerings of securities
  • General representation of non-public corporations

Professional Affiliations

  • American Bar Association – Tax Section
  • Connecticut Bar Association – Executive Committee, Tax Section
  • Greater Bridgeport Bar Association
  • Florida Bar Association  – Tax Section

Education

  • New York University, LL.M. in taxation
  • Cornell Law School, J.D., 1975
  • Cornell University, B.A., 1972

Bar and Court Admissions

  • Connecticut
  • New York
  • Florida
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
  • U.S. Tax Court

The attorneys in Pullman & Comley’s Tax practice regularly advise businesses, executives, individuals, tax-exempt entities, and governmental agencies and subdivisions on all aspects of federal, state, local and international tax matters. The Tax practice is actively involved in structuring transactions and tax planning, as well as in tax controversy work.

The firm regularly provides tax advice for:

  • Business acquisitions and dispositions, including tax-free reorganizations, leveraged buy-outs, spin-offs and other divisive reorganizations, and transactions between corporations and their shareholders
  • Venture capital and investment-related transactions, including partnerships or funds formed for investment transactions
  • The organization of new business ventures, for emerging companies and non-public companies, including limited liability companies
  • Charitable and other tax-exempt organizations
  • Tax-exempt financings
  • Controversies before state tax authorities and the Internal Revenue Service, including litigation arising from those disputes
  • Residency and domicile issues
  • Income tax and estate tax issues before state tax and its departments
  • Obtaining advance rulings from the IRS and state tax authorities
  • Estate planning and business succession planning

Members of the Tax practice provide advice to business clients in many sectors and to individuals with a view to minimizing taxation through properly structured transactions, tax-advantaged business operations and proper personal tax and investment planning. Members of the Tax practice also represent clients at every stage of the IRS and state of Connecticut audit process, including in litigation.

For more than 100 years, Pullman & Comley has earned a reputation as a leading provider of legal services, serving clients throughout Connecticut, the Northeast, and internationally.

Since 1919, the firm has continued to grow and adapt to meet our clients’ changing needs, helping them to address the challenges and opportunities of every economy. Pullman & Comley serves major financial institutions, public and private companies of all sizes, health care providers, service businesses, trade associations, manufacturers and emerging growth businesses in the alternative energy and information technology industries, as well as government entities, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and individuals.

With offices in Bridgeport, Hartford, Waterbury and Westport, Connecticut; Springfield, Massachusetts; White Plains, New York and Wakefield, Rhode Island, the firm is organized into practice sections that offer clients both depth of experience and the flexibility to team across disciplines for customized, solution-oriented service.  In addition, because of the firm’s strong roots in Connecticut, Pullman & Comley often collaborates with out-of-state law firms, serving as local counsel in corporate transactions and litigation matters.  The firm’s membership in the Law Firm Alliance, an international affiliation of law firms, gives local clients the benefit of global reach.