Adjunct Faculty

Ross Allen Executive Director, Ernst & Young LLP		Ross has twenty-five years of experience providing tax planning and compliance services for clients in a variety of industries, with a current focus on the real estate industry. His clients include large, international consolidated groups, publically traded partnerships and closely held Subchapter S corporations. Ross advises clients on the provisions of FAS 109 and FIN 48 and is currently teaching TA 396G: Accounting for Income Taxes. Ross began his career at Ernst & Young in Boston moved to the Bay Area in 1990. He also worked in Ernst & Young's office in Bangalore, India for one year with a focus on hiring and training individuals to prepare U.S. tax returns. Ross earned his undergraduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Masters Degrees in Business Administration and Taxation from Boston University and Bentley College, respectively.
Tonie Bitseff Co-Founder, Marin Legal, PC		Tonie heads Marin Legal's compliance and transactional practice, combining her experience working in large law firms and working with large domestic and international employers with her dedication to individualized and responsive client service. She regards law as a profession instead of a business, which means that she is committed to a legal practice focused on clients, clients' needs, and clients' goals - not maximizing profits and billable hours. Tonie is an experienced ERISA lawyer, is regarded as a leading authority on HIPAA, COBRA and health plan compliance, and is a leader in San Francisco's professional pension and benefits community. Prior to co-founding Marin Legal, Tonie led Thelen LLP's health and welfare plan practice. During her thirteen years as a tax and ERISA practitioner, Tonie gained depth and breadth of experience working at Deloitte, Davies Roberts & Reid LLP, Song Mondress PLLC, and Trucker Huss APC. Tonie provides representation and counsel regarding health benefits, pension plans, and other forms of compensation and employee benefits. She is experienced with welfare plans, 401(k) plans, defined benefit plans, cafeteria plans, benefit outsourcing, vendor management, contract negotiations, dependent and domestic partner coverage and rights, plan governance, ERISA fiduciary liability, prohibited transactions, ERISA claim procedures, appeals, escalations, and government audits. Tonie received her LLM (Taxation) and BA from the University of Washington. Her JD is from Seattle University School of Law. Her professional affiliations include being the Spring Conference Chair in 2009 for the San Francisco Chapter of the Western Pension Benefits Conference. She is also an adjunct instructor for the School of Taxation at Golden Gate University. She has also published several articles for Thomson Reuters, BNA Tax Management, BNA Pension & Benefits Reporter and the Journal of Multistate Taxation.
Igor Drabkin Co-Founder, Holtz, Slavett & Drabkin, APLC		Igor Drabkin is a founding member of Holtz, Slavett & Drabkin, APLC, a Beverly Hills tax controversy law firm. Igor devotes his practice to representation of taxpayers in all aspects of tax controversy with the IRS, state and local taxing agencies, both administratively and in court. Prior to entering private practice, Igor served as a Senior Trial Attorney with the IRS Office of Chief Counsel in Thousand Oaks and Los Angeles, California. Igor represented the IRS in Tax Court and Bankruptcy Court litigation (as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney), and provided legal guidance to the IRS agents on various tax issues. Igor graduated, cum laude, from Pepperdine University School of Law, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Finance from California State University, Northridge. Prior to joining the IRS he clerked for the Hon. Thomas B. Donovan of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles. Igor is fluent in Russian.
Murray Falk		Mr. Falk received his undergraduate degree in economics from Yale University and his law degree from the University of Virginia, following which he practiced law in New York City and, subsequently, in Boston. He was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. Mr. Falk served as a Special Trial Judge of the United States Tax Court for six and a half years, where he heard and wrote opinions in more than 500 tax cases. Mr. Falk practiced law in California after leaving the bench, specializing in federal income tax controversies and litigation, civil and criminal. He moved to southern Arizona in August 2002. He was a certified specialist, taxation law, by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization for many years and has been named by California Law Business Supplement to the Daily Journal publications in California as one of the seven tax lawyers most frequently cited by their peers as California's most prominent practitioners in the field of tax litigation. He is a frequent speaker and has written many articles regarding tax controversies and litigation. This is the 28th year since he began teaching in the Golden Gate University Graduate Program in Taxation. First as a member of the adjunct faculty, later as an Associate Professor and now, again, as an Adjunct Professor, he has taught courses in federal income taxation of individuals, corporations, and property transactions and federal tax procedure since 1982. He is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and California and before the United States Supreme Court; United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Ninth and District of Columbia Circuits; United States District Courts for the District of Massachusetts, District of Columbia, and Central, Northern and Southern Districts of California; and the United States Tax Court.
John Fuerst semiretired US tax partner, KPMG LLP in Vancouver, BC		John Fuerst is a semiretired US tax partner with KPMG in Vancouver, BC. He specializes in US and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, corporate transactions and US inbound international taxation. Before transferring to Vancouver, he worked in KPMG's Seattle office. As well as teaching at GGU, he has taught corporate taxation classes at Western Washington University and currently teaches for KPMG and its clients. He brings over 20 years of public accounting experience to his teaching, combining a practical approach to tax problems with an academic interest in tax law.
James D. Goeller, CPA Partner, Tax Services, Perry-Smith LLP		James is a partner in the tax services practice at Perry-Smith LLP. He obtained his MBA and BS from San Francisco State University. His experience includes: Tax Compliance and Consulting: Has led tax compliance engagements for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to entities in their infancy and family offices for wealthy individuals. Has developed tax structures for multi-state enterprises and has consulted on tax department organization and with tax elements of compliance with 404/302. Estate Planning: Has consulted with numerous businesses related to multi-generational planning for the transfer of closely held businesses. Developed Family Limited Partnership Strategies, facilitated C Corporation to S Corporation conversions and worked with family shareholder agreements. Mergers & Acquisitions: Has performed the tax due diligence and integration of purchase of assets and assumption of liability transactions (RTC Transactions) and multiple mergers. Has stayed current and active in the tax M&A world in the areas of structuring, due diligence and integration. Financial Institutions: Consulted on federal and state tax issues for community banks through super regional banks. Is a frequent speaker on bank tax issues at Executive Enterprises conferences and the Annual Bank Tax Institute. He is affiliated with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, California Society of Certified Public Accountants, Mortgage Bankers Association, Journal of Regulation & Taxation of Financial Institutions, and is on the Advisory Board for the School of Taxation at Golden Gate University.
David Hardesty, CPA Vice President, Wilson Markle Stuckey Hardesty & Bott, CPAs		David Hardesty is a CPA, and a vice president of Wilson Markle Stuckey Hardesty & Bott, CPAs. He is a nationally recognized expert on the taxation of closely-held companies, and specializes in technology companies and electronic commerce. David is also a nationally recognized expert on taxation and accounting for share-based payments (stock options), corporate governance, and Sarbanes-Oxley. Although he focuses primarily on closely-held companies, David also provides services to public companies. He also serves as an expert witness in areas of his expertise. In 2004, 2006 and 2007, David was named by Accounting Today as one of the "Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting," and was named by CPA Magazine as one of the "Top 100 Most Influential Practitioners" for 2005 and 2006. David is the author of a large number of textbooks on taxation and accounting topics, including the following (all of which are published by Thomson - RIA): Taxation books � Choice of Entity - Title 1 of RIA Tax Advisors Planning System � Electronic Commerce: Taxation and Planning. � Taxation of Electronic Commerce - Title 43 of RIA Tax Advisors Planning System. Accounting books � Share-Based Payments: An Analysis of FASB Statement 123(R). � SEC Expert (in progress) Corporate governance books � Practical Guide to Corporate Governance and Accounting: Implementing the Requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 2007 Edition. � Corporate Director's Deskbook David has been teaching as in adjunct professor at Golden Gate University's Graduate School of Taxation since 2000, and is a member of the GGU Graduate School of Taxation Advisory Board, and the GGU School of Accounting Advisory Board. He teaches TA 352, Taxation of Electronic Commerce, and TA 356, Choice of Entity. David received his BA in accounting and MBA in taxation from Golden Gate University. For a complete list of David's books and articles, go to: http://www.davidhardesty.com/hardesty.htm
Jack Hodges, BA, JD, LLM		Jack has over 25 years of broad-based tax experience in law firms as an associate tax attorney, in industry as Vice President and Senior Tax Counsel for Wells Fargo Bank and in the accounting firms Ernst & Young principle, Arthur Anderson partner and, most recently, Grant Thornton national tax office director. He is currently semi-retired and likes to work on complex multi-state tax issues for banks and financial institutions. Jack has taught at GGU for many years, and has been an Associate Dean. He lives in San Francisco. Jack obtained his BA from University of Michigan, JD from University of San Diego, and LLM (Taxation) from New York University. He is a member of the California Bar Association, Tax Section and admitted to practice before the US Supreme Court, US District Court (Northern and Southern Districts of CA) and the US Tax Court. Jack has authored or co-authored numerous articles in the state and local tax area, specializing in the financial services industry. He has also participated in numerous speaking engagements.
Rich Morris Senior Manager, Transaction Tax Group, Ernst & Young LLP		Rich Morris is a senior manager in the Transaction Tax group at Ernst & Young. He focuses his practice on cross-border mergers, acquisitions and post-closing integrations. Mr. Morris has extensive experience working in the International Tax group, as well, and frequently draws from that experience in his current practice. He has also spent a few years practicing tax law at a boutique law firm in San Francisco. Mr. Morris teaches several internal courses at Ernst & Young in addition to speaking occasionally on transaction tax and international tax topics. In addition to his position with Ernst & Young, Mr. Morris has been an Adjunct Professor for Golden Gate University's School of Taxation since 2001. He currently teaches International Mergers and Acquisitions, and has previously taught Tax Research and Writing. Mr. Morris has an LL.M. (Taxation) with honors from Golden Gate University School of Law, a J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of Law, and a B.A. from University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Morris is on the roll of solicitors in England and Wales and is a licensed CPA.
Jason Petersen Senior Manager, KPMG LLP		Jason is a senior manager in the tax practice at KPMG LLP and is based in Sacramento. Jason joined KPMG after one year with another Big Four accounting firm. He has served private clients in many industries including professional services, agriculture, farm product packing, manufacturing, retail, distribution, and real estate. Jason has extensive experience in consulting with clients on tax provision (FAS 109) calculations, tax accounting methods, tax deferral techniques, S corporation planning, S corporation and C corporation shareholder issues and planning, tax structuring of business acquisitions and divestitures, entity selection, state, local, and property tax mitigation, estate and gift planning, and management of government agency audits. Jason is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and California Society of Public Accountants. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and a Master of Business Taxation degree, both from Brigham Young University. Jason is also an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University where he teaches tax research methodology in the Masters of Tax program.
Kirk Paxson Area Counsel Pacific Coast, Internal Revenue Service		Kirk Paxson is the Area Counsel Pacific Coast with the Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division (TEGE). He supervises a group of attorneys responsible for advising the IRS TEGE Division in the areas of Employee Plans (including Executive Compensation Issues), Exempt Organizations, Employee v. Independent Contractor Issues, Tax Exempt Bonds, and Federal, State and Local Government issues. Since joining Chief Counsel in 1995, Mr. Paxson has taught numerous Continuing Professional Education courses to IRS lawyers and accountants. In addition to his position with Chief Counsel, Mr. Paxson has been the Director of Golden Gate University's School of Taxation for Southern California since 2001. He also has been an Adjunct Professor for Golden Gate University's School of Taxation since September 1997. He teaches Tax Research and Decision Making, and Federal Tax Procedure at the Los Angeles Campus and Federal Tax Procedure at the San Francisco main Campus. In 2001 Mr. Paxson received Golden Gate's Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award for teaching. Prior to joining Golden Gate University's School of Taxation, Mr. Paxson was an Adjunct Professor of Law for Golden Gate University's LL.M. (Tax) program in San Francisco. There, he taught Comparative Tax Systems and Tax Research and Decision Making. Mr. Paxson has an LL.M. (Taxation) from Golden Gate University School of Law, a J.D. from Seattle University School of Law, and a B.A. from Stanford University.
Michael Schinner Founder, The Schinner Law Group		Michael G. Schinner is the founder of The Schinner Law Group in San Francisco, where he offers his clients a broad range of business and tax-related services, including entity formation, raising capital, and structuring employment and deferred compensation arrangements. Mr. Schinner is A/V rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and has been named a SuperLawyer of Northern California four of the past five years. Mr. Schinner has formed hundreds of corporations and limited liability companies and has emerged as a recognized leader in the area of LLCs, particularly with respect to: The use of LLC syndicates for real estate projects; LLCs to hold venture capital funds; single member LLCs for personal asset protection; LLCs as part of tax-deferred exchanges; multi-series LLCs for individuals with large real estate portfolios; and family LLCs as an estate planning vehicle. He also assists his corporate clients in raising capital through a variety of vehicles, including private placements, venture capital financing, and direct public offerings, and is fully experienced in all aspects of corporate finance, acquisitions, mergers, recapitalizations, reorganizations, divestitures and corporate liquidations and dissolutions. Mr. Schinner received his J.D. in 1989 from the University of Cincinnati, where he was a member of the Cincinnati Law Review, and his LL.M. in Taxation in 1993 from Golden Gate University School of Law. He is certified as a specialist in Taxation Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization and has successfully represented taxpayers before the IRS, the California Franchise Tax Board, the California State Board of Equalization and the California Employment Development Department. He has also litigated matters in the U.S. Tax Court and before other federal and state administrative agencies and courts. Mr. Schinner has published numerous business and tax related articles in the Journal of Taxation, the Journal of S Corporation Taxation, the American Journal of Tax Policy, California Tax Lawyers, Commercial Law Journal, and Trademark World. He has also contributed articles to CEB's Business Law Practitioner, and he authored a chapter on Delaware Series LLCs in CEB's Forming & Operating California Limited Liability Companies. He is an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University in the Masters of Science in Taxation program, where he has taught courses on S corporations and limited liability companies for over 10 years, in addition to teaching a course on legal issues in e-commerce that he developed for Golden Gate's MBA program.
Gary Slavett Partner, Holtz, Slavett & Drabkin, APLC		Gary Slavett is a tax attorney and a partner at Holtz, Slavett & Drabkin in Beverly Hills, California (www.hsdtaxlaw.com). Gary Slavett was formerly a Senior Trial Attorney with the Internal Revenue Service, Office of Chief Counsel, and a Senior Manager with Deloitte & Touche's Tax Controversy Group. Gary received an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law, a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law, and a B.S.B.A. in accounting from the University of Arizona (Tucson).
Michele Leichtman Weiss		Michele Leichtman Weiss has been a senior attorney at the IRS Office of Chief Counsel for 11 years and the last 6 of those years Michele was in the Large and Mid-Sized Business Division. She has represented the IRS in Tax Court on numerous issues of tax law. Michele has been involved in all areas of tax litigation including drafting pleadings, discovery requests and responses, trial memoranda and briefs and all aspects of trial practice. Michele has assisted revenue agents in all phases of audits and in that capacity has researched and drafted legal memoranda in many areas of tax law including partnerships, international taxation, tax shelter issues, depreciation issues, estate and gift taxes, tax procedure and employment taxes. Prior to joining the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, Michele was a litigator in private practice in New York City. Michele is a member of the State Bars of California and New York; the State Bar of California, Taxation Section; and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. She obtained her BA from Barnard College and graduated cum laude with honors in economics. Michele also earned her JD and LLM (Taxation) from New York University.