Brian J. O’Connor is a Partner and Chair of Venable’s Transactional Tax Group, where he provides sophisticated tax and business advice to publicly traded and closely held businesses and their owners. His practice focuses on foreign and domestic tax matters for partnerships, LLCs, joint ventures, REITs, regulated investment companies, C and S corporations, and wealthy individuals and entrepreneurs. As a transactional tax attorney, he has worked on deals ranging from small sales to mergers valued in the billions of dollars, and as a tax controversy attorney he has represented clients in disputes with amounts at issue exceeding $1 billion. Before joining Venable, he was an attorney-advisor in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, where he worked on high-profile legislative projects, regulations, and guidance related to partnerships, S corporations, trusts, and cooperatives. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches an advanced course on the technical tax aspects of partnerships and practical matters including partnership and LLC agreement preparation. He holds a B.S. from the University of Connecticut, a J.D., magna cum laude, from Washington and Lee University School of Law, and an LL.M., with distinction (Shell Oil Scholar, highest possible GPA), from Georgetown University Law Center.