• Email
• Print PDF
• vCard

Do clients read these? I think clients want to know who you are, to see if you’re the right person for the job. I was the first person in my family to go past high school. After law school and the army, I joined the Tax Division of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. and represented the government in civil tax litigation for seven years. That’s where I met Hank Chamberlain.

Houston in the ‘60s was wide open, up and coming. The whole environment was different from Washington. In Houston, if you could do the job, you were the one the clients wanted. I got married in 1964 and decided to take a shot with Hank and start a firm in Houston.

At first, we were a tax boutique. Other firms sent their clients to us for tax work. After about five years, we started adding new areas of expertise. It’s impossible for a lawyer to be a general practitioner anymore. Law is more complex, and clients now shop for lawyers. We had great debates about whether to remain a boutique, but we made the right decision.

For the first time in my career, I’m now called upon by our corporate people to help with tax issues. It used to be the other way around, with tax work leading to other assignments. Now, when I’m fortunate enough to attract a good piece of work, we have the depth to get it done right. The ability to do that is what’s exciting to me.

Biographical Information

Over the course of a outstanding career spanning more than 40 years, George A. Hrdlicka has drafted hundreds of partnership agreements, covering a wide range of business, investment and personal activities.  His practice also includes extensive experience with trial or settlement of tax disputes with the Internal Revenue Service, District Counsel and the Department of Justice Tax Division. 

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Hrdlicka was a Trial Attorney with the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Mr. Hrdlicka entered government service in 1957 under the Attorney General's Honors Program and ultimately became the Assistant Chief of one of the trial sections of the Tax Division.  In 1965, he left government service to form the partnership of Chamberlain & Hrdlicka in Houston, Texas.  Since 1965, Mr. Hrdlicka has continued to practice law as a tax specialist, including federal income and estate tax planning, partnership tax, and the handling of tax controversies both administratively and in the federal courts.  During the past 35 years, he has spoken at numerous tax seminars throughout the United States on a variety of tax topics and has presented a review of judicial tax decisions annually at the Annual Tax Institute sponsored by the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants. 

Significant Matters

• Horton Homes v. United States, 357 F.3d 1209, 11^th Cir. 2004.  Argued case upholding excise tax exemption for client's vehicles used to transport pre-fabricated homes. 
• Served as general tax counsel for automobile dealership that grew from one dealership in Houston, Texas in 1965 to 15 dealerships throughout Texas by 2007. 

Seminars & Presentations

• "Judicial Highlights" numerous presentations to the Texas Society of CPAs, 1980-2007
• Conducted tax seminars (on a variety of subjects, including partnership taxation, corporate reorganizations and practice before the Internal Revenue Service) on behalf of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants from 1968 - 1995
• Presentations of tax subjects to Tulane Tax Institute and the University of Texas Tax Institute

News

• Chamberlain Hrdlicka Nationally Ranked In 2012 Editions of Best Law Firms & Best Lawyers
  Firm, Attorneys Ranked in Tax, Construction, Immigration, Trusts & Estates and Eminent Domain & Condemnation Categories
  November 2011
• Chamberlain Hrdlicka Nationally Ranked in 2011 Edition of Best Lawyers
  September 2010
• Eight Chamberlain Hrdlicka Attorneys Named Texas "Super Lawyers"
  September 2008
• US Legal 500 Ranks Chamberlain Hrdlicka Among Top Tier in Tax Litigation
  June 2007

Professional Affiliations

• Member, Texas Bar Association
• Member, Houston Bar Association
• Member, Tax Section, Houston Bar Association
• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, Tax Section, American Bar Association
• Member, Missouri Bar Association
• Adjunct Professor, University of Houston Law Center (Partnership Taxation)
• Board of Trustees, Hermann Eye Fund, 1980 to present; Member, Executive Committee, 2000 to present
• Member, Board of Trust Managers, Camden Real Estate Investment Trust, 1994 to 2006; Chairman, Compensation Committee, 2006; Member, Audit Committee, 1998 to 2006