Emerging leader: Mark Pollard.

• Position: MEMBER NEWS

Corporate tax attorneys have a variety of interesting experiences before they ultimately see the light, but not too many TEI members possess the backstory of the Emerging Leader profiled in this issue of Tax Executive.

Mark Pollard is international tax counsel at Kimberly-Clark and the new chair of the U.S. International Tax Committee. But for six years, Pollard was a criminal defense attorney. His clients as a public defender in Fulton County, Georgia: alleged armed robbers, drug traffickers, and, yes, even murderers. "The pay and lifestyle are a lot better now, but there's no comparison between dinner stories."

Pollard decided to become a tax professional because he liked the guantitative and analytical aspects of being a tax practitioner. "The challenge of delivering impactful value to the bottom line by applying complex U.S. and local country laws to complicated business fact patterns is demanding. Rising to the challenge and executing successful transactions is fulfilling," he explains.

Lost in Translation

The biggest challenge in being a corporate tax professional is the need to learn and speak multiple "tax languages," each of which can be mind-numbingly complex, according to Pollard. "A corporate tax professional must be able understand tax law, tax accounting, and corporate reporting: be able to translate into English, apply to complex situations, and collaborate extensively to execute," he says.

Pollard is looking forward to his role as chair of the U.S. International Tax Committee, one of TEI's key committees, which began July 1. In addition to being involved in the development of TEI's comments in the international tax area, Pollard will plan and oversee the U.S. International Tax panels at the Midyear and Annual conferences, as well as the content at the annual TEI International Tax Course each summer in Atlanta.

Pollard will be working with the U.S. International Tax Committee leadership team (vice chairs and beyond) to develop and deliver...