Joe has been a partner with Davis & Harman LLP since 1985. His practice focuses on the Federal income taxation of life insurance company products and ranges from advising individual life insurance companies on specific product design and compliance issues to representing the interests of the 30 member companies of the Committee of Annuity Insurers before Congress, the Treasury Department, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor. Joe, like many of the other members of Davis & Harman’s Insurance Practice Group, has extensive experience in dealing with both the National Office of the IRS and various IRS field offices. He has represented numerous life insurance companies in obtaining private letter rulings, closing agreements and other forms of guidance and relief over the past 25 years. His substantive experience with life insurance company products is quite broad, including qualified and non-qualified annuities, life insurance contracts, and the special diversification and investor control rules applicable to variable contracts.
"Davis & Harman gives me the opportunity to work in a collaborative manner with a small group of knowledgeable and enthusiastic tax lawyers," says Joe McKeever
Joe has served as Chairman of NAVA and of the ABA Tax Section, Committee on Insurance Companies. He currently serves on the Boards of the Chicago Insurance Tax Conference and the Insurance Tax Review—as well as serving on the Advisory Committee of the FBA Insurance Tax Seminar.
Joe is a well-known speaker and author. He regularly speaks on topics related to the taxation of life insurance company products and has made numerous presentations at NAVA meetings, the Federal Bar Association's Insurance Tax Seminar, the Stanford Life Insurance Taxation Workshop, the Practising Law Institute, ALI-ABA conferences and the Chicago Insurance Tax Conference. He is a co-editor and contributing author of the Annuities Answer Book from Panel Publishing and an occasional contributor to the National Underwriter.
After graduating with high honors with his J.D. from George Washington University in 1978, Joe clerked for Trial Judge Harry Wood at the United States Court of Claims and for former Chief Judge Wilson Cowen of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A native of Massachusetts, Joe lives in the District of Columbia with his wife Janice, two very independent cats and two semi-trained dogs, all of whom are devoted Red Sox fans.
Prior Experience
- Law clerk, United States Court of Claims
- Law clerk, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Memberships
- American Bar Association
- U.S. Tax Court
- U.S. Claims Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
The Willard 1455 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
, Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20004 Tel 202-347-2230
Fax 202-393-3310