Tax Controversy and Litigation

• Represents taxpayers in False Claims Act investigations and qui tam False Claim Act lawsuits and related investigations regarding taxpayers’ receipt of PPP Loans.
• Represents taxpayers in voluntary disclosures of unreported foreign financial accounts.
• Represented foreign subsidiary of privately held international marketing company in audit regarding deferral of over $100 million of income relating to variable prepaid forward contracts in matter that led to issuance of IRS Revenue Ruling 2003-7.
• Represents taxpayers in variety of alleged listed tax shelter transactions including syndicated conservation easements, MidCo asset purchase transactions, and Son of Boss transactions.
• Represents taxpayers in penalty abatement matters related to failure to timely and/or properly file international information returns.
• Represented related tax-exempt organizations and related persons in excess benefit transaction in which IRS Examination Division proposed terminating the organizations’ tax-exempt status and penalizing the related person. IRS Appeals Office conceded case in its entirety.
• Represents taxpayers in employee retention tax credit matters, including tax controversies with the IRS regarding right to ERC funds, voluntary disclosures of improperly obtained ERC funds, and disputes with professional employer organizations over filing ERC claims and receipt of ERC funds.
• Represents clients before IRS Examination Division and IRS Office of Appeals on classification of workers as independent contractors or employees.
• Represents clients before the IRS Collection Division to obtain offers in compromise and installment agreements.
• Regularly represents clients before the United States Tax Court on a variety of factual and legal issues.

Appellate Law

• In re F.S.T.Y., 374 N.C. 532, 843 S.E.2d 160  (2020). In a case of first impression, the North Carolina Supreme Court created a “status” exception to the requirements of personal jurisdiction in termination of parental rights cases. In an opinion written by the Chief Justice, the court unanimously found that due process did not require a nonresident father to have minimum contacts with North Carolina in order to terminate his parental rights.
• In re J.E.B., 376 N.C. 629, 853 S.E.2d 424 (2021). North Carolina Supreme Court held that a statute requiring that a parent's counsel may not be appointed as the guardian ad litem and that the guardian ad litem shall not act as the parent's attorney only requires that the parent's counsel and the parent's guardian ad litem not be the same person. It does not prevent a guardian ad litem from conducting cross-examinations or presenting an argument directly to the trial court.
• United States v. George Hadden, 2023 WL 2770945 (4th Cir. 2023). Addressing application of predicate convictions for purposes of determining whether defendant was armed career criminal and/or career offender under United States Sentencing Guidelines.

Nonprofit Organizations

• Regularly represents tax-exempt organizations in Federal tax controversies and litigation and has obtained multiple “no-change” letters in audit examinations of tax-exempt organizations related to governance issues, whether activity of organization was engaged in for charitable purpose, and alleged excess benefit transactions.
• Serves as outside general counsel in North Carolina for national church and associated North Carolina based churches and organizations.
• Provides governance advice regarding articles of organization, bylaws, policies and procedures, and internal board disputes and resolutions.
• Provides tax advice regarding requests for reclassifications, private inurement issues, intermediate sanctions, unrelated business income tax, tax reporting and disclosures and self-dealing.