Prior to joining Grant Thornton in 2006, he served as Deputy General Counsel for the Illinois Department of Revenue from 1998 to 2006 and was an Assistant Attorney General with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office from 1992 to 1998.
“Paul brings more than 25 years of experience and extensive knowledge about Illinois tax regulations and processes,” said Lee Zoeller, head of the Reed Smith State Tax Group. “He worked for several years with Reed Smith Chicago-based State Tax Partner David Dorner in the Illinois Department of Revenue, and the two have maintained a strong working relationship since then. With his most recent work at a major national accounting firm, he has a tremendous network of contacts nationwide, as well as a broad base and substantive knowledge of state and local tax across the U.S. Paul is a tremendous asset to our team and key to our strategic efforts to continue to expand our State Tax practice in the Midwest.”
While working in public accounting, Paul assisted clients with their state and local tax controversies, including audit defense and various levels of administrative appeals. He also advised companies on the tax implications of transactional matters, and, where necessary, he helped management address tax exposures in an efficient and effective manner. Finally, he provided guidance on complex state and local tax laws and regulations to clients in numerous industries and geographies. Paul will continue to provide these services to our clients, and in addition, as an experienced litigator, he will be able to assist clients whose state and local tax matters require legal proceedings.
“Companies are facing new and more complex tax issues due to differing state and local regulations,” Paul said. “With the recent U.S. Supreme Court Wayfair decision, collection of sales taxes across numerous jurisdictions has added another layer of challenge for many companies. My previous governmental and public accounting experience provides me an added perspective that will be beneficial in assisting clients with a variety of tax issues, including transactional matters and state and local compliance. Reed Smith’s tax group is considered to be one of the preeminent tax practices, and I am pleased to be a part of it.”
A CPA, Paul received his bachelor’s degree in Accounting from DePaul University and his J.D. from the John Marshall Law School.
“We are extremely pleased that Paul has decided to join our team in Chicago,” said Mike LoVallo, Chicago Office Managing Partner. “As our clients continue to face increasingly complex tax matters, he will add bench strength to our team and help us serve our clients both in the region and nationwide.”
Reed Smith’s State Tax practice advises clients on all domestic state and local taxes at all stages of the tax life cycle, not only providing defense in litigation and appeal matters, but also proactively guiding clients to optimize their tax positions. Located across eight U.S. offices, the 40 lawyers in Reed Smith’s State Tax practice work collaboratively with attorneys across the firm, which allows them to leverage the firm’s various national and global practices as needed. Through a unique tax intelligence system implemented by the team, our attorneys are alerted to tax issues in states before the issues become generally known to the tax community.
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