Death of John Wood 11/30/21 (12/l4/21)

John Wood (DOJ Tax Gen Lit 1969-1973) passed away on 11/30/21.  His obituary is here.  An excerpt from the obit:

His distinguished legal career began in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, an experience in which he developed many deep and lifelong friendships with his colleagues.

The obit has information about Visitation on 12/5/21, Funeral Mass on 12/6/21, and Interment on 12/6/21.

DOJ Tax Attorney, Jordan Howlette, In the News (10/11/21)

A Tax Division Attorney, Jordan Howlette (LinkedIn here), is mentioned prominently in this Thomson Reuters article:  Natalie Runyon, Meaningful Work: How the pursuit of fairness leads some lawyers to the DOJ, here.  Here are the relevant excerpts:

In reading the U.S. Department of Justice’s mission, it is hard not to get chills in digesting the magnitude of it. In particular, the parts about “defending the interests of the United States according to the law” and ensuring “fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans,” produce a resounding emotional response on its significance.

It is this very mission that inspires thousands of attorneys to join the department. Jordan Howlette and Jessica Massey are two of these lawyers.

The DOJ as a ‘beacon of hope’

Howlette pursued his dream of becoming a Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney, after serving in the military and taking the bar exam while deployed in Afghanistan. He says that he viewed the agency as a “beacon of hope, in that the agency served as a bulwark against those seeking to harm others and a staunch defender of our civil liberties.”

Now, working on the civil side of the tax division as the litigating arm of the Internal Revenue Service, Howlette says he finds meaning each day because he gets to pursue justice through prosecutions by “seeking injunctions against dishonest tax return preparers who promoted fraudulent tax schemes and arrangements.” Many victims are from low-income backgrounds and are usually people of color, and Howlette says he finds this aspect of his work in particular, meaningful as an attorney of color himself.

* * * *

Autonomy, prosecutorial discretion & development opportunities

Clare E. Conners Nominated for U.S. Attorney for District of Hawaii (9/28/21)

The White House announcement is here: 

Clare E. Connors, U.S. Attorney nominee for the District of Hawaii

Clare E. Connors has served as the Attorney General of Hawaii since January 2019. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Connors was an attorney at the law firm of Davis Levin Livingston in Honolulu from 2011 to 2018. From 2004 to 2011, Ms. Connors served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii. Ms. Connors also served as a Trial Attorney in the Tax Division of the United States Department of Justice and as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia from 2003 to 2004. Ms. Connors served as a law clerk for Judge David Alan Ezra on the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii from 2002 to 2003.

Ms. Connors received her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2002 and her B.A., cum laude, from Yale College in 1996.

Andrew Strelka joins Latham & Watkins LLP (9/9/21)

In a press release here, Latham and Watkins announced that Andrew Strelka joined the firm after a stint in the Biden White House as Senior Tax Counsel.  In part relevant to his Tax Division service, the press release says " Strelka's prior government service also includes experience at the Internal Revenue Service, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, and the US Department of Justice's Tax Division where he was detailed to a similar tax advisory role in the Obama White House."  

His firm bio is here.

Ann Reid Retires from DOJ Tax (9/1/21)

Another over the transom email from the AAG regarding the retirement of Ann Reid:

All – I want to take just a minute of your time to recognize Ann Reid’s retirement on August 30. Following her service as an officer in the U.S. Navy, Ann joined the Tax Division in 1986. She has been a trial attorney, Counsel to a Deputy AAG, Assistant Chief, and most recently Chief of the Division’s Office of Review and Financial Litigation Unit. Ann was outstanding in all these roles, achieving great results for the United States. In addition to her legal accomplishments, Ann has been a force for improving the Division. She was the vice chair in the Division’s Diversity Committee’s first year, and chair in its second year when its by-laws were drafted and adopted. Along the way, Ann showed everyone that the same attorney could be a tough-as-nails litigator who leaves nothing on the table in negotiations, lead the knitting club, create fabulous art, and be at the vanguard of demonstrating how parents can apply themselves to the difficult balance of family and work demands. The American public greatly benefitted from Ann’s dedicated service, and the Division is a better place for it.

Dennis Donohue Retires from DOJ Tax (9/1/21)

Someone threw over my internet transom an email from the AAG announcing the retirement of Dennis Donohue.  Given the subject matter, I did not think anyone would object to my copying and pasting the contents here:

Dennis Donohue is retiring from his role as Chief Senior Litigation Counsel today.

After graduating with a Masters of Tax Law from George Washington University’s National Law Center, Dennis began his career with the Tax Division in 1971. His original intention was to complete his four-year commitment and then leave for private practice. But he quickly developed a passion for representing the United States in complex tax litigation. Beginning with the first wave of abusive shelters in the 1980s, through the corporate abusive shelters of the 1990s, and continuing to the present day, Dennis successfully litigated numerous cases against some of the most formidable tax litigators in the country. Abusive tax shelter schemes such as Corporate Owned Life Insurance (COLI) and Structured Trust Advantaged Repackaged Securities (STARS) were rejected by the courts as a result of Dennis’s dogged advocacy. Dennis’s efforts over the years brought billions of dollars into the Treasury and contributed to the tax law’s development.

As Chief Senior Litigation Counsel, Dennis was called on to develop and supervise teams of trial attorneys and administrative professionals from across the Division. He worked extensively with the Internal Revenue Service, IRS Chief Counsel's Office and, at times, with other Government agencies. Over his career, Dennis worked with top economists, academics, and other expert witnesses from around the world, resulting in courtroom presentations that distilled complex transactions into understandable concepts. While each team differed based on the nature of the case, they had one thing in common— forming to immediately face top tax practitioners in our nation’s most challenging and sophisticated tax cases.

Dennis has been on the forefront of developing new strategies to present complicated, technical cases to judges and juries throughout his career. His innovative techniques and trial tactics have been adopted by other attorneys to enhance their overall presentation of evidence in court. In the mid-1990s, a new breed of dauntingly intricate shelters surfaced, designed by sophisticated tax professionals for corporations and high-net-worth individuals. These cases often generated millions of pages of documents and thousands of exhibits. Dennis responded by becoming one of the pioneers in presenting evidence electronically and leading the Division to the new frontier of electronic court presentation.

UGA Law Names Rotunda for Chester C. Davenport (9/1/21)

The announcement is here.  Some excerpts (bold-face supplied by JAT):

The University of Georgia School of Law has named its iconic rotunda after its first Black graduate, Chester C. Davenport. A portrait of Davenport is being commissioned and will eventually hang in the space located at the main entrance to the law school.

Davenport, who passed away in August 2020, was a monumental figure in the School of Law’s history. He was the law school’s first Black student and remained its only Black student during his law school career. He earned his law degree in 1966, finishing in the top 5% of his class and serving as a founding member of the editorial board of the Georgia Law Review.

* * * * 

During the past year, Davenport was memorialized with the establishment of the Chester C. Davenport Memorial Endowment at the law school and was posthumously awarded the UGA Alumni Association’s oldest and highest honor, the Alumni Merit Award.

* * * *

After law school, the Athens, Georgia, native and Morehouse College graduate became an attorney in the tax division of the U.S. Department of Justice and subsequently served as a legislative assistant for California Sen. Alan Cranston. Following a position on President Jimmy Carter’s transition team and an appointment as assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Davenport co-founded a law practice based in Washington, D.C. He later started a private equity firm.

Newsletter Focusing on DOJ Tax Criminal Enforcement Section (8/23/21)

I received the email below from Jeff Beinholt, an alumnus of DOJ Tax CES (the Criminal Section initialism).  The content speaks for itself.  Some readers of this blog may be within the target audience for his newsletter focusing on CES.

 "Greetings. Jeff Breinholt here, an alumnus of the Tax (Crim) Division (1990-1997). About six months ago, I launched a newsletter devoted to Tax Division history, culture, and lore, called The Malone Report. It's a private online newsletter/blog that is only available to registered members (though it's free). Would any of you Tax Division alums like to be added? If so, you can send an email to GMAD2021@yahoo.com."

DOJ Tax Alumni Email List (8/21/21)

As I noted in an earlier blog entry, Setting Up New DOJ Tax Division Alumni Mailing List (1/5/21), here, I would set up a new email list using Google Groups.  I have done that.  Anyone wanting to be on that list should email me at:

jack@tjtaxlaw.com

I will use the list to advise of new blog entries and other items that may be of interest to members of the group.  I can assure people signing up for the list that I will not flood your inboxes with emails.  I suspect that, based on past experience with the past email service, there will be 15 or fewer emails per year.  Of course, events could make more appropriate, but I doubt that many more will be appropriate in any year.

I think this list will permit others to send emails to the group.  Before any such emails are distributed to the list, I will moderate the emails to ensure that they are appropriate.  If I do not think they are appropriate for distribution, I will discuss the matter with the sender and reach an appropriate resolution.  But, I retain final authority as to what gets distributed.  I will make sure the email inboxes are not flooded with inappropriate content.

Death of Jon Forman 8/16/21 (8/21/21)

Jon Forman (DOJ Tax – Northern Civil 1979-1983) passed away on August 16, 2021.  The obituary is here.  The obituary and comments are very good in recording some features of his life.  The obituary is probably a good place to post comments and observations about John.  Of course, such posts can also be made on this blog entry.

Nathan Hochman Seeks California Attorney General Post (8/8/21)

I picked up this offering about an illustrious DOJ Tax Alum:  Congressman Darrell Issa endorses Nathan Hochman for Attorney General, here.  The offering states in part:  “In 2008, Nathan was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the US Senate as US Assistant Attorney General overseeing the Department of Justice’s Tax Division.”

The offering also directs those interested to a Facebook offering titled Nathan Hochman for Attorney General 2022, here.

I also found this YouTube offering, here. 

I could not find whether Hochman has obtained or sought Donald Trump’s endorsement.  But, I suppose, an Issa endorsement goes most of the way there, since as best I can tell Issa and Trump are cut from the same cloth (see Wikipedia, here). 

Death of Allen Schwait 5/27/21 (6/4/21)

Allen Schwait of Baltimore, died May 27.  See Allen L. Schwait, Baltimore City Circuit Court judge who chaired University of Maryland Board of Regents, dies (The Baltimore Sun 6/3/21),  here.. Some excerpts:

“Allen was what you’d want in a trial judge. He was a true gentleman and scholar and had a keen intellect. He was a true mensch,” said former Circuit Judge Stuart R. Berger, currently a judge of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.

* * * *

In 1964, he was appointed as a trial attorney to the Civil Refund Trial Section of the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he specialized in tax refund cases and served until 1967.

Judge Schwait began practicing law in 1969 with the law firm of Garbis & Schwait, specializing in general and tax litigation until 1993, when he became a partner in Azrael, Gann & Franz.\

“They call judges honorable, and Allen was truly an honorable guy,” Mr. Starr said. “It truly fit him and he was so well-suited to be called honorable.”

“Allen was a bright guy who made his own way, and a good Baltimore guy in so many ways who knew everyone in town,” said Peter A. Jay, a former Sun columnist. “He was very community-minded, thoughtful, intelligent and good-humored. He led a good constructive life, and I always thought he was the kind of person who should have been a judge.”

Death of Murphy Booth 5/29/21 (6/1/21)

Murphy Booth passed away on Saturday, May 29, 2021, after a short battle with cancer.

Murphy’s public service with the federal government spanned more than 42 years. He first joined the government in 1977 working for the Soil Conservation Service at the Department of Agriculture followed by more than three years at the Veterans’ Administration. Murphy joined the Tax Division on January 22, 1984, working in the Criminal Section. He worked for many years in the Criminal Enforcement Section, Northern Region, before moving to the Office of Management and Administration in 1997. 

His obituary is here:  https://www.goinghomecares.com/obituaries/Murphy-Booth?obId=21249778. 

At this time, plans for a memorial service are not available. If I lean of plans for a memorial service, I will post the information here.

Follow by Email Feedburner Email Notice Service Being Discontinued (5/10/21)

Some DOJ Tax Alumni have signed up for and have been receiving email notifications of new blog entries via a service called Feedburner through the “Follow by Email” widget that formerly was in the right hand column on this blog.  The Feedburner service is being discontinued in July 2021.  I am therefore eliminating that widget so that Follow by Email will not longer be available for new  subscribers for that service and,  I suppose, the Follow by Email service will stop working in July 2021 for persons who were already registered.

There are other services that, I understand, can provide similar functionality, but I just have not spent the time to try to figure out how they work and how to implement them on the blog site.  If and when I figure that out, I provide a replacement for the "Follow by Email" functionality.

I have downloaded the email addresses of those who were registered as of today.  So, if I get a substitute service for this functionality, I will email those persons with notice so that they can register.

Mike Desmond Joins Gibson Dunn (5/7/21)

Gibson Dunn has announced here that Mike Desmond joined the firm as a partner.  Mike was most immediately the IRS Chief Counsel, but earlier in his career had been a DOJ Tax trial attorney, according to the press release, from 1995 to 2000.  There is no indication as to the section or sections in DOJ Tax in which he served.

Former AAG Loretta Argrett Gives Talk for Tax Court Diversity and Inclusion Series (3/3/21)

The Tax Court has a Diversity and Inclusion series announced February 12, 2021.  The series is announced on the Tax Court Engagement & Outreach site here.  The first speaker was Loretta Argrett who spoke on 2/24/21.  Here recorded talk is linked on the site and can be directly viewed here.

Readers of this blog will remember the Ms. Argrett previously served as Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division in the Clinton Administration.  Her bio is offered on the Stanford law School Women Trailblazers Project,  here.  The excerpt related to her Tax Division service is:

At the beginning of the Clinton Administration, Ms. Argrett became the Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division, in the Justice Department and was the first African American to serve in that position. She also became the first African American woman in the Department's history to hold a position that requires Senate confirmation. During her six years at the Department, Ms. Argrett actively championed women and recruited them for positions of leadership. She restructured the Division not only to increase its effectiveness and efficiency, but to provide advancement opportunities for legal support personnel, many of whom were African American "single moms." At one point during her tenure at Justice, the three top positions in the Division were held by women.

Death of Rodger Moore 2/6/17 (2/28/21)

Rodger Moore died on 2/6/17.  I was just notified of this, so sorry for the belated notice.  

His obituary is here.  The obituary says:

He was employed by the U.S. Military Court of Appeals and retired as a trial attorney for the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Rodger served in Refund 2 while I was in that section (1974-1977) and, as I recall, was an old-timer (47 years old).  I am not sure what his trajectory in DOJ Tax was other than that.

Death of Stanley Ruby 1/2/21 (1/10/21)

Stanley Ruby died on Jan. 2.  His obituary from the Cincinnati Business Courier is here.  The obituary says:

Ruby began his career in Washington, D.C., where he was a clerk for Judge Tannenwald Jr. on the U.S. Tax Court. He continued his career as an attorney in the tax division at the Department of Justice. 

In my database, I have that he served in the Appellate Section from 1968 to 1970.  I joined the Appellate Section in 1969 and remember him as a very good lawyer.

Setting Up New DOJ Tax Division Alumni Mailing List (1/5/21)

I have just been notified that our DOJ Tax Division Alumni YahooGroups was discontinued in December.  I probably had been notified earlier but give it the attention I should have.  In recent years, I had used that service only to do mass emails to DOJ Tax Division Alumni who requested to be on the list.  I think the last time I looked, there were perhaps 100 on the list.  I can't access the list now,  so I don't know who was on the list.

I am looking to establish an alternative email list, probably using the Google Groups service.  However, I will have to enter to make all persons who want to be on the list members of the Google Groups service.  Membership means that members will receive emails sent to the Google Groups service and can post emails to the service (which I will vet in order to prevent inappropriate use of the list).  In terms of members' use, the service will be very much like the YahooGroups service.

I will start working on setting that up later this week.  If any DOJ Tax Division alum wants to be on the new mailing list, please let me know at jack@tjtaxlaw.com.  Emails sent through the service will be limited.  I think in the past the number was less than 10 a year on average and certainly no more than 20 per year.

Sorry for this disruption in service.

Death of George Hrdlicka 12/31/20 (1/3/21)

George Hrdlicka died on December 31, 2020.  His obituary is here; and his law firm bio is here.  George had an outstanding career and life.  George was a founder of the firm now known as Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams and Aughtry, founded by Hank Chamberlain, George Hrdlicka, Bob White and Bob Waters, all alumni of the Tax Division.  That firm (generally referred to as Chamberlain Hrdlicka) has had many DOJ Tax Division Alumni, including me, over the years and the founding partners there mentored and contributed to the professional and personal development of many of those alumni and to others in the firm.  Also among the DOJ Tax Alumni was Sidney Williams, now a named partner in the firm and still going strong in his 80s.

 Here are the key excerpts from his obituary related to his DOJ Tax experience and the professional trajectory thereafter.

 He started his law career at the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. in the late 1950s where he represented the Internal Revenue Service in the Federal Courts all over the Midwest. He met his lifelong partner, Judy Paulus, in D.C. and they married in 1964.

 In 1965, his former DOJ colleague Harold Chamberlain enticed George down to Houston where the opportunities were boundless. George and Judy packed it up, left D.C. and arrived in Houston. He co-founded what is now the law firm Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams and Aughtry with Hank Chamberlain, Robert White and Robert Waters. They worked in a small office handling all manner of tax cases and lived on nothing in the beginning. Judy would exclaim, “We ate eggs all week and chicken on Sunday.” Notably, George worked actively at the firm until his early 80s and never officially retired. He had lunch with his close friend and law partner Sidney Williams weekly for the better part of his career. Ever the teacher, mentor and counselor, George also taught at University of Houston Law Center for 30 years as an adjunct professor in Partnership Tax. His gift was to break down complicated tax concepts and teach them in a simple way that students and clients could understand.

And, indicative of his life, the following is an excerpt from the obituary:

His last adventure was in his home in Houston. There was nothing more important to him than his family whom he sacrificed opportunities once they entered his life. Resilient until the end, he waited until he could be in his home from the hospital to say goodbye. His final breath holding Judy’s hand whom he loved, always concerned that she would be taken care of for life. He left a legacy of kindness, intellect, hard work, insightful calm thinking, modesty and respect for others, a witty sense of humor, adventure, love, and generously enriching others. He will be missed and remembered as living a full life and going out with a bang on Judy’s 81st birthday, the perfect ending to their love story.

The obituary says:  "A service and Celebration of Life will be held at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Memorial Park when it is safe to gather."

On a personal note, while in my brief tenure with Chamberlain Hrdlicka, I worked substantially with George.  He was a class act.