Lara Ewens Montecalvo nominated for 1st Circuit Judgeship (5/28/22)

President Biden nominated Lara Ewens Montecalvo to be a judge on the First Circuit Court of Appeals.  See White House announcement here.  The portion of the announcement applicable to here is (DOJ Tax portion bold-faced by JAT):

Lara E. Montecalvo is the Public Defender of Rhode Island, a role she has held since 2020. Ms. Montecalvo previously served as an assistant public defender in the Rhode Island Public Defender’s Office from 2004 to 2020. She held several roles in that office, including as Chief of the Appellate Division from 2014 to 2020, an appellate attorney from 2010 to 2014, and a trial attorney from 2004 to 2010. Ms. Montecalvo was a trial attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 2000 to 2004. Ms. Montecalvo received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Boston College Law School in 2000 and her B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1996.

 She was in the Civil Northern section.

Her Wikipedia page is here.

Her Vetting Room page is here.

Death of Jack McCarthy 2/28/22 (2/5/22)

Jack McCarthy (long-time Chief of the General Litigation Section) passed away on 2/28/22.  His Washington Post obituary is here. 

On his DOJ service, the obit says:  “He was a litigator for the U.S. Department of Justice in a career that spanned 42 years and took him around the world.”  I am sure there are a lot of stories behind that statement.

Death of Tom Silk 1/25/22 (2/14/22)

Tom Silk (DOJ Tax Appellate 1964-1966 and Spec. Ass’t AAG 1966-1968) passed away on 1/25/22.  His obituary is here.  It is quite an extensive obituary with many accomplishments.  Here is the excerpt for the Tax Division service:

After graduating from UC Berkeley School of Law in 1963, practicing for four years at the U.S. Department of Justice's Tax Division where was appointed special assistant to the chief and received the highest award given by the Attorney General.

ABA Tax Section Loretta Collins Argrett Fellowship (1/21/22)

The ABA Tax Section has launched the Loretta Collins Argrett Fellowship.  The Fellowship “seeks to identify, engage, and infuse historically underrepresented individuals into the Tax Section, create a more accessible, equitable, and inclusive pathway into Tax Section leadership, support the expansion, diversification, and inclusiveness of the tax profession, and create a sense of belonging for members looking to become involved with the Section.”

The Tax Prof Blog offering on the Fellowship is here.

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.