6th Annual USD School of Law - RJS LAW Tax Controversy Institute

The 2021 USD School of Law – RJS LAW Tax Controversy Institute will be held virtually via Zoom on Friday, July 16. The Institute is the premier tax controversy event in San Diego. The region's top tax attorneys, CPAs, and law/business school professors will discuss topics including what practitioners can expect with the new IRS Office of Fraud Enforcement as well as how to properly advise clients with collection issues.

James Lee, Chief of Criminal Investigation at the IRS, Tom Woolway, Senior Managing Director of Torrey Pines Bank, Ronson J. Shamoun Principal Attorney & CEO of RJS LAW, USD Adjunct Professor and Miranda Perry Fleischer, Professor of Law and Co-Director of Graduate Tax Programs, USD School of Law will open the conference with introductory remarks.

Moderators and Panelists include:

• Richard Carpenter, Principal, Richard Carpenter Attorney; Adjunct Law Professor; Supervising Attorney, Federal Taxpayer Clinic, USD School of Law
• Frank Agostino, President, Agostino & Associates
• Steven Toscher, Principal, Hochman, Salkin, Toscher, & Perez P.C.
• Martin Schainbaum, Of Counsel, RJS LAW
• Sandra Brown, Principal, Hochman, Salkin, Toscher, & Perez P.C.

Dean Robert Schapiro will introduce Keynote Speaker, the Hon. Elizabeth Ann Copeland, United States Tax Court.

The Richard Carpenter Award is given to an individual who exemplifies honesty, integrity, ethics, and compassion throughout his/her careers in the field of tax controversy and have demonstrated outstanding dedication and expertise while representing taxpayers before the federal and state governments. We are excited to announce Nina Olson as the recipient of the 2021 award. Ms. Olson is the Executive Director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights. Prior to her current position, she was the former head of the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate, a government office dedicated to helping taxpayers solve their tax problems with the IRS.

The Richard Carpenter Excellence in Tax Award
We will be presenting the Richard Carpenter Excellence in Tax Award to Nina E. Olson. Ms. Olson is the Executive Director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights, a nonprofit organization that works to advance taxpayer rights in the United States and internationally, and convenes the International Conference on Taxpayer Rights.  From March 2001 to July 2019, she served as the National Taxpayer Advocate of the United States, an independent organization within the Internal Revenue Service with 1,600 to 2,100 employees and 79 offices across the United States, dedicated to assisting taxpayers resolve their problems with the IRS and making administrative and legislative recommendations to mitigate those problems systemically.  She has submitted 39 annual reports to Congress and testified before congressional committees over 60 times. 

Before serving as the National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina founded and directed The Community Tax Law Project, the first independent Low Income Taxpayer Clinic in the US.  She also maintained a private legal practice, representing taxpayers in disputes with the IRS. Nina is a member of the Virginia and North Carolina state bars.  She is a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel (ACTC), a senior fellow of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), and a member of the supervisory board of the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) Observatory of Taxpayer Rights.

We continue to encourage your support of USD School of Law Tax Law Student Scholarship Fund, especially this year in light of the growing impact of COVID-19.  As always, thank you for your support.  

The 6th Annual USD School of Law - RJS LAW Tax Controversy Institute will be held virtually via Zoom Webinar. Once you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email with event details and the link to register to receive the Zoom Webinar link. Once you have completed that, Zoom will send the July 16 webinar link to your email. Please save it to your calendar as this link is the only way you can access the event on Friday, July 16.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email usdlawevent@sandiego.edu.