Mr. John W. Harris, Attorney

John W. Harris

Prior to practicing as an attorney, John W. Harris practiced as a Certified Public Accountant with Arthur Young & Co. (now part of Ernst & Young). He started in the Tax Department of the San Francisco office in 1968. He was promoted to partner in 1978, and transferred to the Portland, Oregon office to become the office Director of Taxes.  He transferred to the Dallas office of Arthur Young in 1983.  Throughout his career with Arthur Young, Mr. Harris was active in writing, speaking and teaching activities as well as client service.  He wrote various articles for Arthur Young and industry publications.  In addition to various speaking engagements for client and industry groups, he served for a number of years as an instructor for the firm's National Training Seminars in both the Consolidated Tax Returns and Estate and Gift Taxation areas.

As Mr. Harris's practice moved more heavily into the estate and gift planning fields and became increasingly oriented toward legal matters, he decided in 1986 to withdraw from Arthur Young and enter law practice.  In 1990, he joined Jordan, Dunlap, Prather & Harris LLP and became a shareholder in Snell, Wylie & Tibbals, P.C. on January 1, 2007.  Since beginning law practice, he has continued to emphasize individual and business taxation and estate and gift taxation.  In addition, he maintains an active estate and trust planning, probate, general business, and corporate practice.

Mr. Harris is active in the Dallas Estate Planning Council (a member Board of Governors in 1985-87), the Dallas Bar Association (Tax and Probate, Trusts and Estate Sections), and the Texas and American Bar Associations.  He holds an active C.P.A. certificate and is a member of the American Institute of C.P.A.'s.

Mr. Harris has participated in church and/or civic activities in each of the cities in which he has lived, including service as Treasurer, Vice President and Board member of the Portland Youth Philharmonic Association.  Since returning to Dallas, he has been an active member of King of Glory Lutheran Church.  He served as the church's first Finance Chairman, as a member of its Congregation Council and as the first Chariman of its Endowment Fund Committee.  Mr. Harris has recently completed service as Secretary and a board member of the Mission Endowment Fund of the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana region of his church, and now serves on the board of the North Texas Lutheran Secretariat.  He is currently a member of the Planned Giving Council of Children's Medical Center Foundation of Dallas, as well as the Advisory Council of The Dallas Foundation. 

Mr. Harris entered Harvard Law School, having received a Lambda Chi Alpha National Scholarship for Graduate Studies.  While at Harvard, he was active in moot court and legal writing competitions.  He received a J.D. degree in 1968.  Mr. Harris also attended Duke University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in accounting, in 1965.  He is a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in his junior year.