Joy Bode, a partner since 1989,  leads the Austin office tax practice.  Her practice is focused on complex tax-exempt financings and matters concerning tax-exempt organizations, such as representation of hospitals, nonprofit housing corporations, universities, private foundations and large health care systems. In addition, she counsels on corporate and partnership tax matters, real estate transactions, and all phases of federal tax controversy, including the representation of large taxpayers in audits before the IRS and in tax litigation.  Joy also serves as a member of  the Firm's Executive Committee. 

Recent matters include:

• Representing five major hospital systems in restructuring several billion dollars of auction rate tax exempt debt, due to market turmoil following the ratings downgrade of major bond insurers.
• Representing large cities and other issuers in connection with interest rate swaps and other derivatives.
• Successfully defending cities and hospitals in at least ten IRS audits of tax-exempt bonds in the last four years, all resulting in no change or adjustment to the tax-exempt status of the bonds.
• Successfully defending a Fortune 100 software company before the IRS on issues concerning acquisitions and cross border leases, saving the company hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes, penalties and interest.
• Obtaining complex letter rulings from the IRS for a major Texas city regarding the use of reserve fund monies and payments for water capacity, which saved the city millions of dollars in debt service payments on its tax exempt bonds.

• American Bar Association
• State Bar of Texas
  • Tax-Exempt Finance Committee, Member
  • Former Court Procedures Committee, Officer
• National Association of Bond Lawyers

• Best Lawyers in America, Tax
• "Texas Super Lawyer," Tax,  Texas Monthly magazine
• "Best of Business Attorneys & Corporate Counsel," Corporate & Tax, Austin Business Journal

• Output Facilities: Final Treasury Regulations" - Texas State Bar Section of Taxation Newsletter, December, 2002
• "Entity Selection: A Survey of Issues Relevant to the Selection of the Form of Entity in Which to Do Business" (co-authored with Hank Still), April, 1998

Joy has served as a panel member at seminars conducted by the National Association of Bond Lawyers on tax-exempt finance matters and has given speeches to professional organizations such as the Texas Association for Healthcare Financial Administration.

1979 - J.D., cum laude, Harvard University Law School
1975 - A.B., Criminology, summa cum laude, the University of California at Berkeley

Joy was admitted to practice law in Texas in 1979.

From 1979 to 1981, she was a judicial clerk to Judge Richard C. Wilber on the United States Tax Court.

Joy enjoys traveling and the outdoors, including hiking in the Texas Frio River Canyon.