Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Mary L. Smith, AAG DOJ Tax Designee

According to a White House Press Release on 4/8/2009. the President announced his intent to nominate Mary L. Smith Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division. The portion of the press release related to Ms. Smith is:

Mary L. Smith currently is a Partner at Schoeman, Updike, Kaufman & Scharf LLP, a women-owned firm. Smith specializes in complex litigation, regulatory practice, and government investigations. Earlier in her career, she served as Senior Litigation Counsel at Tyco International (US) Inc. where she managed the securities class action multi-district litigation – one of the largest cases pending in the country. While at Tyco, Smith interacted with the tax department on a range of issues including employee benefits and more strategic issues involving litigation and the company’s corporate reorganization. Prior to Tyco, she was an attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Washington, D.C. Prior to her time at Skadden, Smith served in the Clinton White House as Associate Counsel to the President and Associate Director of Policy Planning where she was responsible for a number of policy areas including domestic violence, tax issues, equal pay, Internet gambling, Native American issues, and civil rights issues. She was the highest-ranking Native American in the White House during the Clinton Administration. From 1994-96, Smith served as a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice Civil Division. Smith graduated from the University of Chicago School of Law, cum laude, where she was a member of the Law Review. Smith clerked for the Hon. R. Lanier Anderson III of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She received a B.S., magna cum laude, from Loyola University of Chicago. Smith is a member of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession and a member of the Board of Managers for the Chicago Bar Association.

Jonathan Forman Selected IRS Scholar-in-Residence for 2009-2010

Pursuant to IR-2009-38 (April 7, 2009), Jonathan Forman has been selected to be the IRS Scholar-in-Residence for 2009-2010. Jonathan served in the Northern Civil Trial Section from 1979-1983. The Complete release is:


IR-2009-38, April 7, 2009

WASHINGTON –– Internal Revenue Service Acting Chief Counsel Clarissa C. Potter has selected Jonathan Forman as the 2009-2010 Professor in Residence. The IRS Professor in Residence reports directly to the Chief Counsel and provides advice and assistance on a wide array of legal issues within the scope of his or her expertise.

"We are delighted to have Professor Forman join us this fall to share his ideas and experience with our attorneys,” said Potter. “His expertise in many areas, including pension plans and employee benefits, will be extremely beneficial to the office.”

The current professor in residence David Hasen’s term will conclude on July 27, 2009. Forman will serve a nine-month term starting Sept. 1.

Forman since 1985 has been a professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Law where he currently holds the Alfred P. Murrah Professorship. He is vice chair of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS). From 2001-2003, he served as a member of the Internal Revenue Service’s Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT).

Forman has written extensively about employee benefits, the federal budget and the earned income tax credit, including over 250 publications, such as Making America Work (Urban Institute Press 2006).

Prior to joining the Oklahoma faculty, Forman clerked for Judge Robert J. Yock at the U.S. Court of Claims in Washington. He has been a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division and served as tax counsel to Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Forman holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan, an M.A. in economics from the George Washington University, an M.A. in psychology from the University of Iowa, and a B.A. from Northwestern University.

The IRS Chief Counsel’s Professor in Residence program provides some of the nation’s top legal academicians the opportunity to contribute to the development of legal tax policy and administration.