Taxation specialist Tim Sherman joined Baker & McKenzie from Mallesons Stephen Jaques this week, making him the fifth new partner to join Bakers’ Australian offices in 2009.

Sherman’s focus is on corporate and private equity taxation issues and he said that his talents complemented those of the other 11 tax professionals within the firm’s Australian offices. “It was a good opportunity to come across to Bakers because my skill set is predominantly in the corporate and private equity area,” Sherman said.

Work in his niche of the taxation market is already picking up as improving economic conditions encourage increased activity in the M&A and corporate arena. “Tax is always at the forefront of any of those transactions so, the way I see it, it’s all pretty positive for the next 12 months,” Sherman said. “I think the fact that, in the second half of this year, we’ve seen a number of IPOs come to market is indicative of much more confidence in the market.”

As with his peers, Sherman is eagerly awaiting the Australia's Future Tax System Review Panel report, more commonly known as the Henry Report, to be delivered prior to Christmas. Sherman said that he expects the report to be wide-ranging and to have an impact on the corporate and M&A environment in 2010.

“The time is ripe for tax reform in Australia,” he said. “It can be easy to make things simple by taking away some of the incentives that are in the tax regime but it’s important that those incentives remain because they’re important in making sure we’ve got the right competitive investment environment in Australia.”

Bakers’ partner hires in 2009

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