Emily M. Lam

Lam, who has worked as an attorney adviser in the Office of Tax Policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, now — as a Skadden partner — advises high-profile Silicon Valley companies and high-net worth individuals on their most complex tax matters.

In April, she was named to head the firm’s Palo Alto office. “I plan to build Skadden in Palo Alto as the go-to firm beyond the tax space,” she said. “I am also very focused on our diversity agenda.”

Virtually all of her matters are confidential. She serves as the lead tax adviser in IRS controversies for two of the world’s most prominent global technology companies in connection with their provision of free meals to their employees, a topic that has gained much recent media attention. “It’s an interesting question for sure,” she said. “A lot of people, including regulators, think, ‘Wait. I don’t get free meals. Why is that not a taxable event?’” However, she points out that under section 119 of the Internal Revenue Code, employers can provide free meal services.

“It is a longstanding provision of tax law, written in the 1950s,” Lam said. “But there’s a very live controversy to how you apply the rules to the tech industry. The IRS is interested because employers can give meals to employees as long as it is for a non-compensatory business purpose.” Her argument is that the benefit is not designed to compensate employees but as part of a business model in which employees are required to be available for work at all times. She compared tech workers at large companies to workers on an offshore oil rig. “It is simply inefficient for workers in this industry to take time to get food,” she said.

The argument got a boost recently when the U.S. Tax Court allowed the Boston Bruins hockey team to provide team meals at road games, agreeing with health and nutrition arguments in favor of the team. Though Lam was not involved in that case, she called the ruling “Potentially a decision helpful to us,” adding, “I remain surprised that the IRS chose to challenge the practice.”

In her busy pro bono practice, Lam provides advice and tax counsel to the National Women’s Law Center in connection with the establishment of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, connecting those who experience sexual misconduct in the workplace with legal and public relations assistance.

— John Roemer