DLA Piper has appointed Stuart Walsh and Clara Boyd, as partner and legal director respectively, in its London tax practice, starting on 8 August.

Stuart joins from Pinsent Masons where he was a partner from 2012, heading up the firm’s tax litigation team. He has extensive experience of VAT and excise duty matters providing tax litigation services, both on the tax technical merits of cases and providing strategic advice for dispute resolution.

Stuart’s tax investigations work centres on establishing the circumstances giving rise to any potential tax or penalty liability and advice on how to mitigate that risk. His VAT and excise duty advice covers the full range of services sought by DLA Piper’s clients in a contentious context, including in relation to the VAT liability of goods and services, the VAT and customs duty implications of the cross-border movement of goods into and out of the UK, and the creation of due diligence procedures for clients at risk of VAT and excise duty fraud within their supply chains.

Previously Stuart led the tax litigation team at Pinsent Masons, teaming up with Jason Collins, the former head of the firm’s Litigation, Regulatory and Tax practice. Jason joined DLA Piper in August last year to establish its tax controversy team, based in London.

Alongside Stuart, DLA Piper has appointed senior tax disputes expert Clara Boyd, also from Pinsent Masons, where she has spent her career since 2005, specialising in advising large corporates on resolving disputes with HMRC in relation to VAT and excise duty, including acting on many of the leading VAT cases before the courts.

Jacques Wantz, International Head of Tax at DLA Piper, commented: “Stuart and Clara have outstanding experience in the area of indirect tax litigation. They join their former colleague Jason Collins who we appointed last year to establish our tax controversy team and will perfectly complement and consolidate this by adding a band 1 ranked indirect tax litigation capability whilst consolidating our market leading non-contentious VAT practice led by Richard Woolich. These appointments will give us the bench strength to establish ourselves as a leading practice in the area of tax controversy and we very much look forward to them joining us.”