Remembering Bob Mendenhall

By Wells Hall

Bob Mendenhall, former Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association Tax Section, passed away on July 14, 2022, at the Charlotte Rehab Center, one day before his 68th birthday. His obituary is available here.

When I spoke to Bob shortly before his death, he told me about his surgery to remove a blood clot after a head injury resulting from a fall in late May. He knew that his recovery would take some time, but he looked forward to resuming his law practice at Holland & Knight in Charlotte. He shared with me his daughter Lauren’s summer plans prior to her junior year at Elon. He was so proud of her.

Bob was registered to attend the Tax Section Workshops at Kiawah Island, South Carolina over Memorial Day Weekend. He was very much looking forward to attending the first in-person workshops since 2019. He had to cancel when he was hospitalized after his fall. A regular attendee at the Tax Section workshops and Council meetings for over 30 years, Bob’s absence was noted. Bob had served several terms on the Council and held every office – Treasurer, Secretary, Vice Chair, and Chair of the section. He always had a welcome hand to young lawyers attending the meetings for the first time. The section is much better as a result of Bob’s passion and perseverance in supporting the CLE, pro bono, and fellowship activities of the section.

Bob’s tax career began with a job with North Carolina National Bank as an audit officer just out of Davidson College. He enrolled in the joint J.D./MBA program at the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he excelled. He served as a staff member and business manager of the North Carolina Law Review and served as treasurer of the Student Bar Association. Upon graduation, he worked with Arthur Anderson as a tax accountant and then joined Helms Mullis & Johnston with a strong group of young associates, which included Ernie Reigel, later Managing Partner at Moore & Van Allen, and Adrian Wilson, later Chair of the North Carolina Young Lawyers Division. Bob made partner in the tax practice at Smith Helms Mullis & Moore doing sophisticated tax, partnership and corporate work for significant clients like NCNB, which became NationsBank and later BankAmerica.

Bob left Smith Helms with Frank Blanchfield and several other partners in the mid-1990s to form a tax and litigation boutique firm representing major corporate and high net worth clients, including the Tax Department of NationsBank.

When NationsBank acquired Bank of America in October 1998, Mayer Brown & Platt, a top 20 national law firm, decided to open a Charlotte office and tapped the lawyers at Blanchfield Cordle & Moore to kick it off. Frank Blanchfield was the first office managing partner. The office quickly grew to over 50 lawyers, fueled by Charlotte’s banking, finance, and tax work. I joined Mayer Brown in June 2000 and became Bob’s partner for the next 13 years. Our offices were a few doors apart, and we shared the same legal secretary, soon to be called our administrative assistant.

At a Mayer Brown firm partner meeting, Hugh McColl, our guest speaker, told the Mayer Brown partners that the bank would not have been where it is now if Frank Blanchfield and his team had not obtained the private letter ruling that permitted NationsBank of North Carolina to outbid other banks many times its size to acquire First Republic Bank of Dallas out of FDIC receivership and inherit billions of dollars of net operating loss carryforwards, eliminating its federal tax obligations and fueling its growth and expansion for years to come. The novel legal analysis developed by Blanchfield and his legal team prompted the IRS and Congress to tighten the rules under Section 382, which limits NOL carryforwards when there is a change of control of a loss corporation.

Bob served as pro bono general counsel for the DreamKey Partners, formerly the Charlotte Mecklenburg Housing Partnership, from 1990 through his death. He served on the Board of Directors of LifeSpan, Inc. from 1987-2015, and as Vice Chair and Chair of the Board. He was recognized as the recipient of the firm-wide awards at both Mayer Brown and Holland & Knight for Pro Bono, Public and Charitable Service.

Several prominent Charlotte lawyers spent memorable years practicing law with Bob Mendenhall.

• Mary Mandeville, now with Alexander Ricks, started her practice with Helms Mullis, joined Bob at Blanchfield, Cordle & Moore, and later practiced at Mayer Brown. “I met Bob in 1987, when I was a summer clerk during law school. Bob took me and other clerks under his wing, showed us the ropes at the firm, and introduced us to all sorts of favorite Charlotte haunts, which really gave me a sense of the place that would become home. I was lucky to work with Bob for much of my career, and he was one of my favorite people to brainstorm with about cases and legal issues and life in general. Bob was analytical, thoughtful, practical, generous, funny, and kind to the core, a great lawyer, colleague, and friend.”
• Kris Hinson, a Mayer Brown partner now with Alston & Bird, says, “Bob is one of the kindest people you could ever meet – he always tried to do good and look for the good. I will miss his guidance and friendship. I am really upset about this – I was going to meet him in rehab this week and wish I had gone earlier.”
• Myron Moore, a partner with Bob at Smith Helms, Blanchfield Cordle & Moore, and Mayer Brown, says, “Bob was a terrific lawyer and law partner. He was also kind and generous with a marvelous sense of humor. Bob was a dear friend, and he will be missed by many folks.”
• Justin Thornton, a criminal tax lawyer in Washington, D.C. and a member of the NCBA, says, “A good friend and colleague for over 30 years, Bob Mendenhall will be missed immensely. He was a stellar tax lawyer who earned the respect and admiration of his clients and fellow members of the bar. I was honored to have worked with him on numerous tax matters over the years, and most of all, to have been his friend.”

Bob is survived by his beloved daughter, Lauren Mendenhall, his brothers, Chuck Mendenhall (Laura) of Austin, TX and Ray Mendenhall (Ann) of Versailles, Kentucky, and beloved nieces and nephews Maury Mendenhall (Andrew Miller), Matt Mendenhall (Marcy) and Sheena Roller (Ben).

Those of us who knew Bob are better for it. A service celebrating Bob’s life will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, August 5, 2022, in Lingle Chapel at Davidson College Presbyterian Church, with a reception immediately following in the Lilly Family Gallery in Chambers Building at Davidson College.

Memorials may be offered in Bob’s honor and memory to DreamKey Partners, 4601 Charlotte Park Drive, Suite 350, Charlotte, NC 28217.