Speakers

Tax Alliance Conference 2013

Speakers*
*Subject to change.

Dan Baucum advises businesses and their owners in business planning, tax and estate planning.  He also represents taxpayers in audits, IRS appeals, and in court.   From 1988 until 1997 he served as a Special Assistant in the IRS Chief Counsel's Office in Washington, DC and Director of IRS Practice for Coopers & Lybrand, LLP, also in Washington.  Mr. Baucum taught in the Graduate Tax law Program at Georgetown University's School of Law and currently teaches business and tax law at the Dedman School of Law, Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Mr. Baucum speaks at continuing professional educations programs on business entities, tax planning and practice issues.  Recent speaking engagements include the State Bar of Texas Advanced Tax Law Course, the Texas Society of CPAs, and the Dallas Bar Association's Tax Section.  Mr. Baucum was selected one of five Go-To Lawyers in the tax law by the "Texas Lawyer" legal publication; an award, given only once every five years in 18 practice categories.  He has been named by D Magazine as one of the best tax lawyers in Dallas and is rated "AV" Preeminent (5.0 out of 5.0) by Martindale Hubbell Legal Directory.  He focuses his practice on business transactions and tax planning using limited liability companies, partnerships and other pass-through entities, estate and succession planning, and IRS controversies.  Under the Taxes Disciplinary rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys he does not claim a specialty.

Bill Beckham has been employed with the Internal Revenue Service for 26 years.  He began his career as a Revenue Officer in the Collection Division.  In 2000, he became a Special Agent with Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation.  In 2012, he added a collateral duty as an Identity Theft Coordinator for the Dallas Field Office.  He has worked several types of investigations while employed with the IRS including tax evasion, money laundering and identity theft.  He is a 1986 graduate from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration.

Blaise C. Bender is a nationally recognized speaker on various tax, legal and accounting topics. A native of San Antonio, Blaise was a college professor for over twenty years.  He received his BBA in Accounting  and a Master's of Science in Finance from Texas A & M University.  He also received a MPA in Taxation from UTSA and his Juris Doctor in Law from St. Mary's University.  Professor Bender is a member of the State Bar of Texas and a licensed CPA.  He also possesses over six years experience in public accounting working for three of the formerly "Big Six" accounting firms, Arthur Andersen & Co., Deloitte Touche, and Ernest and Young.  Professor Bender was also a Controller, CFO and CEO in private industry.  Blaise has been a licensed attorney since 1990 and a licensed CPA since 1992.  Blaise was the President of the San Antonio Chapter of CPA's in 2006-2007 and past chairman of the Board of Providence High School in San Antonio.  He is currently a member of the Texas Society of CPAs Legislative Advisory Committee which monitors Texas tax legislation.  Blaise is also on the Supervisory Committee of San Antonio Federal Credit Union. 

LG Brooks
is an enrolled agent, the Senior Consultant of The Tax Practice, Inc., located in Dallas, Texas. LG has been in the field of taxation for more than 25 years and has been in practice full time since 1990. His areas of practice include Tax Representation, Tax Consulting, and Pre-Tax Court Litigation Support Services. LG continues to provide tax presentations for numerous tax & accounting societies and has made presentations at several Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Annual Tax Forums. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bishop College at Dallas, Texas in 1977,  is a Fellow of the National Tax Practice Institute (NTPI) and is currently a faculty member of the National Tax Practice Institute (NTPI). LG is extremely proud and honored to be an Enrolled Agent. He may be reached at 972.223.4000.

Elizabeth A. Copeland - Elizabeth works on all matters pertaining to Federal and State income taxation, both planning and tax controversies.  She has expertise in dealing with the Internal Revenue Service at the administrative appeals level and in litigation.  Elizabeth focuses on assisting businesses in determining the types of entities that best suit their needs, from the perspectives of tax savings and operational efficiency.  She also assists taxpayers with foreign account disclosures, employment tax issues and with criminal tax matters.

Elizabeth's representative experience includes securing the taxpayer victory in a major clothing company case; representing an individual in the U.S. Tax Court against the IRS Commissioner, winning government concessions after trial; representing a livestock company against the Commissioner securing a taxpayer victory and settling numerous U.S. Tax Court cases in favor of the taxpayer.  Elizabeth has written many articles and made many presentations. 

Laurel Cummings is the Director, Compliance Strategy & Policy, of the Internal Revenue Service Affordable Care Act office.  She has over 35 years of experience across numerous leadership positions, including Local Taxpayer Advocate and Director of Immediate Intervention within the Office of Systemic Advocacy.  In her current position, Laurel is responsible for Compliance Strategy development for various provisions of the ACA legislation.

C. Clinton Davis, Jr. practices law in the Dallas, Texas law firm of Krage & Janvey, L.L.P.  He was licensed in Texas in 1982, has been Board Certified in Tax Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1988 and is a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas.  He has also been licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in Texas since 1980 and as an attorney in Florida since 1980.  Mr. Davis attended law school at Southern Methodist University and received his Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, in 1980.  At SMU, Mr. Davis was selected to membership in the Order of the Coif, an honor society limited to graduates in the top 10% of the graduating class.  Mr. Davis received his bachelor of science degree in accounting from Northwestern State University of Louisiana where he graduated first in his class.  Mr. Davis is a frequent speaker at CPE programs and conferences.  He is the author of the TSCPA programs Principles of LLC and Partnership Taxation:  An Introduction to Subchapter K, Navigating the LLC and Partnership Allocation and Basis Minefield, and LLC and Partnership Taxation for the Sophisticated Practitioner.  He is also a frequent speaker and moderator for the Accountants' Continuing Professional Education Network (sponsored by the TSCPA and other state CPA societies) on various topics including tax planning, choice of entity and partnerships.  He has also been a speaker and moderator for CLE Options, a Network for CLE (sponsored by the State Bar of Texas) on partnership and LLC topics and has recorded an audio CLE course on understanding Section 704(b) for the State Bar of Texas Tax Section.

Tina R. Green is an attorney practicing in Texarkana, Texas.  She is board certified in Estate Planning and Probate, Tax Law and Elder Law. Ms Green is a member of the counsel of  Real Estate Probate and Trust Law; Texas Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys; the Tax Section, State Bar of Texas Continuing Legal Education Committee; State Bar of Texas; State Bar of Arkansas; College of the State Bar;  and Texas Academy of Probate and Trust Lawyers.  She has served as the Secretary of the Texarkana Bar Association, Secretary  and Treasurer of the Tax Section, State Bar of Texas and Chair of the Continuing Legal Education Committee as well as being Editor of the Texas Tax Lawyer.  Along with her professional activities, she serves at the Director, Arkansas Community Foundation Board, Chair-Elect of the Executive Committee of the Economic Development Council for the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce, and member of the First Baptist Church of Texarkana; Friends of the Foundation of Christus St. Michael and the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce.  Tina has written a number of articles related to estate planning, probate, and estate taxes and has spoken at numerous continuing legal education programs. 

Karen L. Hawkins is the Director of the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility.  Prior to taking his position in April 2009, Hawkins was in private practice at the Oakland, California law firm of Taggart & Hawkins where she specialized in civil and criminal tax controversy cases for nearly 30 years.  She has been a frequent speaker and writer on a variety of diverse tax law topics including; Innocent Spouse Relief, Attorney's Fees Awards; Collection Due Process; Civil and Criminal Tax Penalties; Tax Court Litigation; International Tax issues and Ethics in Tax Practice.  Hawkins has a number of reported precedent-setting tax cases to her credit in the US Tax Court and ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Hawkins earned her J.D. and MBA - Taxation degrees at Golden Gate university in San Francisco.  She also holds a M.ED. from the University of California, Davis.  Among her many honors and awards are: V. Judson Kelin Award from the California Bar's Taxation Section and the National Pro Bono Award from the ABA's Taxation Section.

Larry Jones advises and represents clients in IRS tax controversies which include audits, appeals, collections, criminal tax investigations, and civil and criminal tax litigation. Larry represents tax professionals before the Office of Professional Responsibility.  He advises and assists corporations and individual businesses by furnishing general legal services necessary to the proper conduct of their business operations, and represents clients in the purchase and sale of businesses.  He is committed to excellence in the practice of law and offers his clients timely, effective and efficient personalized service.

Prior to entering private practice, Larry was a Trial Attorney with the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. During his time there, he received substantial trial experience in tax cases. Larry represents taxpayers before all levels of the IRS, and in litigation against the IRS. Larry has successfully represented tax professionals facing proposed sanctions by the Office of Professional Responsibility.  He is a partner in the law firm of Townsend & Jones, LLP, which has offices in Dallas and Houston. Larry is the past chairperson of the IRS North Texas district Director's Practitioner Liaison Committee, Larry is Director of the Federal Taxpayers Clinic at SMU Dedman School of Law and teaches Federal Tax Procedure at the Law School. Larry and his partner, Jack Townsend, are in Chambers USA: American’s Leading Lawyers for business and were chosen as Texas Super Lawyers by Texas Monthly.

Larry is a teacher, author, recognized public speaker and authority on tax controversy matters, and how to effectively deal with the IRS.  He has taught Criminal Tax Fraud and Taxation of Property Dispositions at the SMU Dedman School of Law.  Larry has developed, written, and taught courses for various professional organizations involving all aspects of the IRS including but not limited to audits, appeals, collections, and negotiating with the IRS.  In the past Larry has co-sponsored the Forum on Doing Business with the IRS with the Texas Society of CPAs.

Larry is a member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Tax Practice and Procedure published by CCH and he writes a column on examination issues for this publication. Larry has published various articles on dealing with the IRS. He is a co-author of Guide to Dealing With The IRS published by Practitioners Publishing Co. Larry may be reached at 214.696.2661.

Nikki L. Laing, CPA, J.D. is an attorney with the firm of Capshaw Green, PLLC in Texarkana, Texas.  She was admitted to practice law in Texas in 2002 after graduating magna cum laude from Baylor University School of Law.  She was the Technical Editor of the Baylor Law Review and recipient of the Baylor Law School Annual Estate Planning and Trusts Award in 2011 and the 2010 recipient of the Baylor Law School Annual Writing Excellence Award.  Nikki also was a top ten scorer out of nearly 900 candidates on the Texas CPA exam and was nominated, Baylor University Outstanding Graduating Senior in 2006. 

Patti Logan became an enrolled agent after working for the Internal Revenue Service as an Insolvency Technician, Revenue Officer and Offer Specialist.  After 8 years with the IRS, she left the Service and formed The Tax Group specializing in representation.  She has been an expert witness on several cases.  Patti is a frequent speaker to various tax related organizations throughout the nation. Patti's articles have been featured in several national and local journals.  She is a columnist for CCH's Journal of Tax Practice and Procedure and a contributing author of PPC's Dealing With The IRS.  She is a Fellow of the National Tax Practice Institute, and a former dean of the NTPI faculty.  Patti is the proud recipient of the Texas Society of Enrolled Agent's 2002 Founder's Award, the Charles Goodnight Award for Enrolled Agent of the Year for 1999 and the 2006 Extra Mile award from the Tax Alliance Conference.  In 2005, she was awarded the prestigious Excellence in Education Award in recognition of her leadership and dedication to promoting quality continuing education on behalf of the National Association of Enrolled Agents - Education Foundation. Patti is a past president of the Texas Society of Enrolled Agents and the Plano Area Enrolled Agents. 

She currently serves on the board of directors of the Tax Alliance Conference, Inc.; the Schulze Ranch Home Owners Association and the Custer County Chamber of Commerce.  She is a member of the American Society of Tax Problem Solvers. 
 
Michael McDermitt currently serves as the Senior Collection Technical Advisor for the Taxpayer Advocate Service.  In this capacity, Micheal provides technical advice and support to the National Taxpayer Advocate on matters related to IRS Collection operations, and serves as a liaison between TAX and the IRS to help resolve systemic problems that have been identified in IRS Collection cases.  Previously, Michael has also served as TAX' Director, Internal Technical Advisor Program (ITAP), and as the Local Taxpayer Advocate in the Austin "local" office.

Michael began his career with the IRS in 1979 as a revenue officer in Los Angeles, CA.  Subsequently, he has held various manaagement positions within the IRS, including Chief, Collection Division, in Austin, Texas; Regional Director of Quality in Dallas, Texas; SBSE Compliance Territory Manager in Austin, Texas and the National Program Manager for the Offer in compromise Program for SBSE Headquarters.  Michael graduated from Arizona State University in 1978 with a Bachelor of Schience degree in Criminal Justice.

Steve Miller, CPA is a Certified Public Accountant with an extensive array of tax consulting, teaching and writing experience.  From 1984 to 1991, he worked for two international accounting firms beginning as a staff memeber and advancing to senior tax manager.  With these firms, he initiated his international taxation experience.  Mr. Miller served with expatriate tax practice teams, foreign nationals working in the US plus the Japanese International Network (JIN).  He worked in Dallas, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Saulo, Brussels, Washington DC, Florida and Chicago before establishing his own practice in Dallas during 1992.

Mr. Miller has authored international tax training courses and worked as an instructor for the Professional Development Institute.  This last year, he created webinars for ACPEN - an organization that provides CPE to most of the state CPA societies.  Mr. Miller has written various courses including:  "Overview of International Taxation" and "Taxation of International Transactions."  He has been published by the Dallas Business Journal and Today's CPA magazine for articles on international expatriate taxation and "Tax planning for Incentive Stock Options."

His practice assists small businesses, individual taxpayers and other CPAs with global tax strategies and compliance.  

David Ronquillo, EA, owner of Security Tax Resolutions, LLC represents taxpayers in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area, who have complex collectin tax issues with the IRS.  Mr. Ronquillo has over 30 years experience with IRS and 25 years in IRS field Collection matters. Prior to establishing Security Tax Resolutions, >>C, Mr. Ronquillo held a variety of positions with the IRS, including revenue officer, offer-in compromise specialist, field collection ggroup manager, toll-free branch chief at the Austing Compliance center, Austing Field Collection Territory Manager and Senior Collection policy Analyst for Employment tax.  He retried as the Territory Manager for the Property Appraisal and Liquidation program where he managed the national program for the selling of IRS seized property and Department of Justice real estate foreclosures.  Over his 25 year Collection career, he has taken, managed and directed various complex and intricate enforcement actions to bring taxpayers into compliance.

Mr. Ronquillo graduated with highest honors from California State University, Dominguez Hills, on 1976 with a Bachelor's Degree in Public Administration.  He received his Masters of Arts Degree with Conflict Management and Negotiation from California State University in 2007.

Ira B. Shepard was a professor at the University of Houston Law Center from 1975 to 2011, where he is now an emeritus professor of law. Before that, he taught at the University of Georgia School of Law (1971-75); he was a visiting professor at the University of North Carolina Law School, 1980 - 81.

He received his baccalaureate degree from Harvard College in 1958 and his law degree from Harvard University in 1964, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He practiced in New York City with the firm of Paul Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison from 1965 to 1971.

He was the Special Advisor to the Southern Federal Tax Institute from 1974 to 2010. He has chaired the Continuing Legal Education and Research Committee of the American Bar Association Tax Section and the planning committee for the University of Texas Tax Conference, and has been president of the Wednesday Tax Forum and the council of the Houston Bar Association Tax Section. He is a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.

He regularly speaks on recent tax developments at numerous tax institutes, including the University of Denver Tax Institute, the University of Texas Tax Conference, University of North Carolina Tax Institute, the American Institute on Federal Taxation, the Tax Alliance Conference, the Southern Federal Tax Institute, the Tennessee Federal Tax Institute, the Tulane Tax Institute, the Maryland Tax Institute, and the William and Mary Tax Conference. He also speaks regularly at programs sponsored by Tax Executives Institute, The American Petroleum Institute, the Houston Bar Association Tax Section, the Dallas Bar Association Tax Section, the State Bar of Texas, the Austin Tax Forum, the Austin Chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs, and the Wednesday Tax Forum. He has also lectured at the Virginia Tax Conference, the Great Lakes Federal Tax Institute, the University of Houston Law Foundation, the State Bar of Michigan Tax Section, the New Mexico Tax Conference, the New Mexico Tax Institute, the New Mexico Tax Symposium, the Alabama Tax Conference, the Kentucky Tax Institute, the Lewis & Clark Tax Institute, the Ohio [AICPA] Tax Institute, the Columbus (Ohio) Tax Institute, the NYU Tax Institute, and the Hawaii Tax Institute, as well as on programs sponsored by ALI-ABA, Practicing Law Institute, the IRS and the Federal Bar Association.

Jim Smith, CPA serves as Managing Director of Smith, Jackson, Boyer & Bovard PLLC, a Dallas based, full service Certified Public Accounting firm.  In his forty-three years of professional experience, he has been engaged extensively in tax and financial planning consultations for closely held businesses and their owners and has worked with all forms of business organization.  His experience has included mergers and acquisitions, capital sourcing, financial reporting and litigation services.

He has conducted seminars on tax and financial planning for the Dallas Chapter of the TSCPA and stock brokerage firms and life insurance companies, and on marketing and practice management for the TSCPA, the North Caroline Association of CPAs, the Arkansas Society of CPAs, the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs.  He has conducted presentations on analyzing financial statements for the reporting staffs of the Dallas Morning News, Dallas business Journal, Wall Street Journal and San Antonio Express. 

Mr. Smith is a graduate of Southern Methodist University with a BBA in Accounting and Exonomics.  He is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Texas and is a licensed Registered Investment Advisor. 

Pat Sykes, EA in her 30th year with H&R Block and her 18th year as Director of the North Dallas H&R Block Premium office.  She is a Certified Master Instructor for Block and speaks at various conferences and conventions.  Pat is a graduate of Dallas Baptist University and serves as Treasurer of the Tax Alliance Conference of North Texas.  She is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Brookhaven College School of Management. 

Pat became an Enrolled Agent in 1993 and is a member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents, Texas Society of Enrolled Agents and Plano Area Enrolled Agents.  She is a past recipient of the Charles R. Goodnight Memorial Award awarded by the Texas Society of Enrolled Agents.

Brooke Tetzlaff is a Special Agent with IRS Criminal Investigation (CI), in the Dallas Field Office located in Farmers Branch, TX.  Tetzlaff became a Special Agent with IRS-CI in January 2006, and she currently serves as an ID Theft Coordinator for the field Office.

Tetzlaff is working on her second year as the ID Theft Coordinator for the field office.  In this endeavor, she works with another coordinator on giving educational presentations throughout the year, tracks the leads which come in directly to the field office, tracks the progression of field office ID theft cases, assists on seizure projects for ID theft related monies which are still available for forfeiture, and investigates ID theft crimes.  Previously she has taken on the collateral duty of Fraud Referral Coordinator for the Dallas field office.  Prior to joining IRS-CI in 2006, Tetzlaff worked as a cost analyst in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.  She obtained her Masters in Business Administration from Purdue University, and her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Oklahoma State University.

Josh Ungerman specializes in tax controversies in addition to tax, business, estate and charitable planning.  He has been involved with both domestic and international tax disputes in the United States Tax Court, the United States District Courts and the United States Circuit Courts.  The tax matters in which Mr. Ungerman is involved are typically very complex from both a factual and legal perspective.  These matters often require legal and accounting skills.  Josh is also a CPA. 

Mr. Ungerman has been quoted on tax and estate matters in Forbes, bloomberg, The BNA Daily Tax Report, and Tax Analysts - Tax Notes.  The Chambers USA Guide describes Josh as "incredibly dedicated; He lives and breathes his client's problems." and futher reports, "If I knew somebody in a difficult position with the IRS, I'd definitely call Josh." 

Prior to joining Meadows, Collier, Reed, Cousins, Crouch and Ungerman, LLP, Josh was a civil prosecutor for the Internal Revenue Service, Dallas District Counsel office. 

 


  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

  

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