Morrison & Foerster argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in MeadWestvaco Corporation v. Illinois Department of Revenue, No. 06-1413, in a significant tax case concerning the constitutional limitations on state taxation.  Morrison & Foerster represents petitioner MeadWestvaco Corporation in a dispute over whether the Due Process and Commerce Clauses preclude a State from taxing a nondomiciliary corporation on a capital transaction that occurs outside of the State.

Morrison & Foerster partner and chair of the state and local tax department Paul H. Frankel is counsel of record for petitioner.  Argument was presented by Morrison & Foerster partner Beth S. Brinkmann, and was her 24th before the Court.

This argument was the fourth oral argument in a business case by a Morrison & Foerster attorney since the start of the October 2007 Term.  The firm’s previous arguments this Term were on behalf of three trade associations in Rowe v. New Hampshire Motor Transport Ass’n, No. 06-457, at the end of November 2007; on behalf of Mattel, Inc., in Hall Street Associates, L.L.C. v. Mattel, Inc., No. 06-989, in the beginning of November 2007; and on behalf of Klein & Co. Futures, Inc., in Klein & Co. Futures, Inc. v. Board of Trade of the City of New York, No. 06-1265, in October, 2007.