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James S. Meyer
James S. Meyer
Partner — Tax
E: jmeyer@velaw.com T: +1.214.220.7721
VCard BIO PDF
Partner — Tax

James S. Meyer

James S. Meyer
Dallas
T: +1.214.220.7721
F: +1.214.999.7721

Trammell Crow Center
2001 Ross Avenue
Suite 3900
Dallas, Texas 75201

E: jmeyer@velaw.com
M: +1.214.669.3851
VCard BIO PDF
start quote symbolTax touches everything. Any business transaction has a tax component to it. I enjoy coming up with solutions on the best ways to structure business transactions and arrangements to help my clients achieve their business goals.end quote symbol
James S. Meyer

With more than 35 years of experience, Jim Meyer is a veteran tax lawyer whose practice encompasses all areas of business income taxation. His particular focuses are partnership, corporate, and natural resource tax matters.

Jim’s work is largely collaborative, as he joins transaction teams across V&E to advise on tax strategies for clients in an array of industries. Jim has a particular depth of experience in the energy and real estate fields. He structures partnerships for private equity funds and master limited partnerships (MLPs) and advises on corporate transactions, including reorganizations, mergers, and acquisitions. Jim regularly counsels real estate investment trusts (REITs) and MLPs on a variety of tax issues, such as formation, ongoing qualification, tax reporting, acquisitions, dispositions, and liquidations.

Jim’s work in natural resource transactions includes advising on royalty trusts, production payments and carried-interest joint ventures. He advises lenders and real estate developers on a wide variety of finance matters and real estate transactions, including joint ventures and like-kind exchanges.

When the ever-changing tax law poses a challenge to businesses, Jim helps clients understand the changes and develop tax-efficient solutions to achieve their goals. His work has earned him recognition by The Best Lawyers in America as a top tax lawyer for well over a decade.

Experience Highlights

  • Tax counsel to Holly Energy Partners, L.P. (HEP) in connection with a $1.25 billion recapitalization that eliminated HEP’s incentive distribution rights and general partner economic interest in exchange for HEP common units 

  • Devon Energy Corp. in the $3.125 billion sale of ownership interests in EnLink Midstream Partners and EnLink Midstream to Global Infrastructure Partners

  • SemGroup Corporation in its $2.1 billion acquisition of Houston Fuel Oil Terminal Company, one of the largest oil terminals in the U.S., from Alinda Capital Partners

  • TPG RE Finance Trust, Inc. in its $233 million initial public offering and multiple follow-on offerings

  • Holly Corporation in its $7 billion merger with Frontier Oil Corporation, creating one of the largest independent refiners in the United States

  • Devon Energy Corp. in the $8.84 billion contribution of substantially all of its U.S. midstream business to Crosstex Energy and Crosstex Energy to form a consolidated midstream business controlled by Devon

  • Milestone Apartments Real Estate Investment Trust in its $200 million initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange and its subsequent sale to Starwood Capital for $2.85 billion

  • Rayonier in an internal reorganization and spin-off of its non-REIT qualifying wood products business to its public shareholders

  • Pioneer Natural Resources in its $1.3 billion joint venture with Reliance Industries for the development of acreage in the Eagle Ford Shale

  • Targa Resources Partners and Targa Resources Corp. in the $7.7 billion acquisition of Atlas Pipeline Partners and Atlas Energy

  • Plains All American Pipeline in its $744 million merger with PAA Natural Gas Storage, L.P. through a unit-for-unit exchange

  • HM Capital Partners in the $660 million sale through an auction process of Sturm Foods, a private label food manufacturer

  • Constellation Energy in the $175 million acquisition of MXEnergy Company, a retail electric and gas supply company with operations in 14 states and Canada

  • HollyFrontier Corporation in the $315 million drop down of its interest in the owner of a refined products pipeline and related assets to Holly Energy Partners

  • T-3 Energy Services in the $422 million sale of the company to Robbins & Myers

  • EXCO Resources in connection with the sales of interests in the Haynesville and Marcellus shale plays for $1.4 billion, and the formation of joint ventures to govern the drilling and development of such interests, including $550 million of carried interest obligations

  • Brazos Private Equity Partners in the acquisition of a substantial majority interest in Vision Source, a practice development and supply chain solutions provider for independent optometrists and dentists in the United States and Canada

  • ArcBest Corporation in the approximately $180 million acquisition of Panther Expedited Services, Inc., a North American transportation and logistics provider

Credentials

  • Southern Methodist University, J.D., 1982 (Order of the Coif; Editor, Journal of Air Law & Commerce)
  • Southern Methodist University, B.B.A. summa cum laude, 1979 (Beta Gamma Sigma)
  • The Best Lawyers in America© (BL Rankings, LLC), Tax Law (Dallas), 2005−2023
  • Legal 500 U.S., Domestic Tax: Central, 2012
  • Former Chair: Tax Section, Dallas Bar Association
  • Member: Committee on Partnership Tax, Tax Section, American Bar Association
  • Texas
  • U.S. Tax Court
  • U.S. Claims Court
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
  • “IRS Issues Guidance on Elective Cash Stock Dividends by REITs,” V&E REIT Update E-communication, August 16, 2017 (co-author)
  • Author of various articles in Journal of Taxation, Journal of Partnership Taxation, 42nd Annual Institute on Oil & Gas Law and Taxation, and Journal of Air Law & Commerce
  • Speaker on various topics before the Dallas Bar Association Tax Section and Southwestern Legal Foundation’s Oil & Gas Tax Institute

News & Insights

Deals & Cases
EnLink Midstream Announces Offering of Additional Senior Notes
March 30, 2023
Deals & Cases
Pioneer Natural Resources Announces Public Offering of $1.1 Billion
March 29, 2023
Deals & Cases
ArcBest Announces Sale of FleetNet America
February 28, 2023
Deals & Cases
Martin Midstream Partners L.P. Announces Private Placement and Concurrent Tender Offers
February 6, 2023