Shartsis Friese Welcomes Rafi Mottahedeh as a Tax Partner

San Francisco, May 31, 2022 – Shartsis Friese LLP is pleased to announce that Rafi Mottahedeh has joined the firm as a partner in the Taxation Practice.

Mottahedeh was most recently tax counsel with Cargill, Incorporated, the world’s largest agribusiness company and America’s largest privately held company, where he served as tax lead for Cargill’s financial business units and numerous corporate functions. Previously, he was at Jenner & Block in Chicago, and before that he was at Wood LLP in San Francisco.

“Rafi is a savvy tax lawyer who brings deep experience in tax and business matters,” said Shartsis Friese founding partner Art Shartsis. “He will play a key role in providing tax expertise to our Investment Funds and Advisers clients, as well as to our business practice generally.”

Mottahedeh has extensive experience in a broad array of tax matters with special expertise in investment fund formations and offerings, mergers, acquisitions, and financial instruments. Additionally, Mottahedeh has considerable experience from both Cargill and his work at law firms with the tax aspects of algorithmic trading, commodities, derivatives, and cross border transactions.

At Cargill, his responsibilities included the Trade and Capital Markets business unit (an investment product broker-dealer that counts numerous financial institutions amongst its clients), where he interfaced directly with internal and external clients. His role included structuring, negotiating, and drafting all tax provisions of partnership/operating agreements, offering memoranda, M&A transactions, ISDA agreements, credit agreements, and many other documents.

“I’m tremendously excited to be joining one of the strongest and most dynamic firms in California,” said Mottahedeh. “It will be a pleasure to return to practicing law in California, and I look forward to continuing to serve the financial services industry and the other superb businesses and individuals represented by Shartsis.”

Mottahedeh is Chair of ABA Section of Tax Committee on Sales, Exchanges, and Basis, the author of numerous publications, and has been a panelist at numerous ABA Section of Taxation conferences. He received a B.A. (2005) and M.A. (2008) from the University of Chicago, a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law (2010), and an L.L.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law (2013).

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About Shartsis Friese

 Founded in San Francisco in 1975, Shartsis Friese LLP has more than 65 lawyers. The firm has extensive trial and business litigation experience, including securities enforcement defense, and a complex transactional practice focused on investment advisers, hedge funds, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, securities, tax, venture capital, intellectual property, family wealth planning, and real estate. For more information visit www.sflaw.com.