Phyllis E. Simon
Senior Counsel

With more than 20 years of experience in counseling businesses and individuals regarding business transactions and tax matters, Phyllis uses her extensive commercial and tax experience to help clients understand complex issues and craft creative, sound business transactions. She skillfully assists clients with business formations, contract drafting and negotiation, dispute resolutions, and representation before regulatory agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the California Franchise Tax Board, the California State Board of Equalization (SBE), and local tax authorities.

Early in her career, Phyllis worked as a tax specialist in a large, certified public accounting firm and later as in-house tax counsel for a Fortune 500 telecommunications company. Perspective from these roles, coupled with her experience working with a variety of client types through several boutique law firms, help inform her practical and business-minded approach to the representation of small and medium-sized businesses and individuals.

Phyllis enjoys helping for-profit and nonprofit organizations, and she has worked with a range of companies at various stages of their lifecycles, from planning strategies for the challenges faced by Silicon Valley startups to managing the ongoing needs of established businesses or preparing companies for successful exit strategies. When necessary, Phyllis will delve into a particular industry to intelligently serve the needs of her clients. By way of example, over the years she has developed a niche practice working with the vehicle reinsurance industry, where she has represented auto dealers and administrators of vehicle reinsurance programs in connection with both business transactions and tax controversy matters.

When she is not counseling clients, Phyllis enjoys hiking, gardening, and testing recipes.