Cindy Ohlenforst’s practice today, as throughout her career, is an eclectic mix of all things tax. She focuses on multistate and local taxes and on litigation and controversy work, but continues to enjoy a wide range of tax projects, including transactional and tax planning matters, and lobbying in multiple state and local jurisdictions. Having decided before college at Loyola University in New Orleans that she would be a litigator, she was surprised to find herself fascinated by her tax classes at Southern Methodist University School of Law. In 1980, she graduated first in her law school class, after taking both advanced litigation classes and advanced tax classes—and after having a baby during April of her first year. Cindy joined Hughes & Luce—which eventually merged into what is now K&L Gates—where she began working with the legendary Vester T. Hughes, the first recipient of the Outstanding Texas Tax Lawyer Award.

 

A registered lobbyist in Texas, Cindy has co-authored sections of the Texas Tax Code and of the Internal Revenue Code, and has testified before legislative committees of multiple states. She has also litigated state and federal tax cases at both the trial and appellate levels, including work on U.S. Supreme Court cases. Her deal work includes projects for some of the world’s largest companies. Cindy is also a frequent speaker and author who co-authored the SMU Tax Journal’s Annual Survey of Texas Tax Law beginning in the 1980s. 

 

Cindy has chaired the State Bar’s Tax Section, its State Tax Committee, and the Dallas Bar Association Tax Section, and has been a member of the Taxpayer Advisory Groups for multiple Texas Comptrollers. She has been named in Chambers USA, the Best Lawyers in America, the Dallas 500, Texas Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in Dallas, Best Women Lawyers in Dallas, and the Top 50 Women in Texas, and elected to the American College of Tax Counsel. Cindy has also served in active leadership roles with many charitable organizations, including the United Way, Ursuline Academy, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, The Family Place, and Attitudes & Attire.

 

Cindy is as passionately dedicated to advancing women and diverse attorneys in the practice of law as she is to practicing law at the highest level. She co-chaired the State Bar’s Women in the Profession  Committee during its first two years, and currently chairs the K&L Gates firm-wide Committee on Women in the Profession. 

Cindy’s proudest accomplishment is having raised, with her amazing husband Pat, three accomplished daughters—a clinical psychologist, an orthodontist, and a veterinarian—each of whom benefitted from Cindy’s willingness to balance the demands of a challenging career with her non-negotiable commitment to being present for virtually every one of their practices, games, and performances.

 

 

 

We are pleased to recognize and provide more information about our previous honorees:

2017     William D. ("Bill") Elliott

2015    Sander Shapiro

2014    Hon. Juan F. Vasquez 

 

2013    Ira B. Shepard  (deceased)
 

2012    Emily Parker 

 
2011    Stanley M. Johanson
 
2010    Charles O. Galvin (deceased) 

2009    Stanley L. Blend
 
2008    Steve Salch  (deceased)
 
2007    Buford P. Berry  (deceased)
 
2007    Ron Kalteyer (deceased)