- Former IRS Senior Trial Attorney
- Former Department of Justice Special Assistant United States Attorney
- Former Lead Counsel of IRS Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) Cadre for Southern California
- LL.M. in Taxation, NYU
- Former Adjunct Law Professor at Loyola Law School, UCI School of Law, and Chapman University
- Extensive Tax Court Trial Experience
- Awarded IRS Counsel Litigation Bronze Medallion
David J. Warner is a Tax Attorney and the Managing Attorney of the Orange County Office of Holtz, Slavett & Drabkin. David has over 10 years of experience practicing in all aspects of tax controversy including tax audits, collection defense, and litigation in the U.S. Tax Court, U.S. District Court, and the Court of Federal Claims. He represents taxpayers in cases involving income tax, estate tax, gift tax, employment tax, collection issues, innocent spouse, penalties, and bankruptcy tax issues. David also represents taxpayers before the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB), Department of Fee and Tax Administration (CDTFA, formerly State Board of Equalization (BOE)), and Employment Development Department (EDD). He has particular expertise in tax matters involving individuals and small businesses, the examination of partnerships and S corporations, and offshore tax compliance issues, including the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), civil fraud, and offshore information return penalties.
Before joining Holtz, Slavett & Drabkin, David was a Senior Trial Attorney with the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, Small Business Self-Employed Division, in Laguna Niguel for 9 years. He litigated over 500 cases before the U.S. Tax Court, including the most complex cases with up to $25 million in taxes and penalties at issue. As a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) for the U.S. Department of Justice, David litigated tax matters in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana and Riverside, including cases with up to $20 million in taxes at issue. As lead counsel of the IRS Southern California FBAR Cadre, it was his responsibility to review and approve hundreds of millions of dollars in FBAR penalties. David also advised the local Special Enforcement Program (SEP) and Large Business & International (LB&I) International Individual Compliance (IIC) revenue agents on complex domestic and international issues. As an expert inside the IRS on the taxation of partnerships and S corporations, David made presentations on these topics to hundreds of IRS attorneys across the country and was a founding member of the Southwest Area Partnership Cadre.
David was an Adjunct Professor of Law at Loyola Law School, University of California Irvine School of Law, and Chapman University Fowler School of Law, where he taught courses on tax practice and procedure, partnership tax, bankruptcy tax, and corporate tax.
David received an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law, where he was a graduate editor on the Tax Law Review and an M. Carr Ferguson Fellow in Tax Law. While at NYU, he won first prize in the Judge Tannenwald Writing Competition for the best article in the country on tax policy.
David earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where he ranked in the top five percent of his class and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. While at Loyola, David was the Chief Production Editor of the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review and published an article on the Fourth Amendment and technology. He received his B.A. from the University of Minnesota where he majored in Political Science and History. David is a member of the State Bar of California and the Orange County Bar Association Tax Section.
Reported opinions include Palsgaard v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-82; Pritchard v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2017-136; Holden v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2015-131; Alfaro v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2014-54; In re Gordian Medical, Inc., 499 B.R. 793 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 2013).