Holtz, Slavett & Drabkin, is pleased to announce that Michele F.L. Weiss has become a principal of the firm.
Michele is a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Taxation Law and has over 20 years of experience practicing in all aspects of tax controversy, including tax audits, collection defense, criminal investigations, and litigation in the U.S. Tax Court and U.S. District Court. She helps businesses, business owners and investors resolve their civil and criminal tax disputes with the IRS and state tax agencies, including the FTB, EDD, BoE, and CDTFA, in examinations, appeals, litigation, criminal and collection defense. She has expertise in many substantive and procedural tax issues including penalty abatement, payroll and employment tax, offshore tax compliance and sensitive disclosure matters, trust matters, qualified contributions, R&D and ERC credits, cryptocurrency, and non-profit matters. She provides tax counsel in business litigation and bankruptcy matters.
Before joining Holtz, Slavett & Drabkin, Michele was a Senior Attorney in the Large and Mid-Sized Business Division of the IRS Office of Chief Counsel in Los Angeles. Michele was an attorney at IRS Counsel for 11 years where she worked closely with exam teams of numerous LMSB taxpayers developing issues and giving guidance on complex areas of tax law including partnership taxation, tax shelters, international taxation including subpart F and foreign tax credit issues, leasing and depreciation issues. During her tenure at the IRS, Michele received two special act awards and one performance award. She was also a Director, Tax Controversy Services, at KPMG. For eight years, Michele was on the adjunct faculty of Golden Gate University School of Taxation where she taught Tax Procedure and Tax Research and Writing. Michele received her B.A. cum laude with honors in economics from Barnard College, Columbia University; she holds a J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law.
Michele is a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and the American Bar Foundation; Chair, Beverly Hills Bar Association Tax Section; Member, Beverly Hills Bar Association, Board of Governors; Tax Policy Chair, California Law Association, Tax Section, Women in Tax Committee; and Board Chair, Friendship Circle of Los Angeles.
Holtz, Slavett & Drabkin is a tax controversy and tax litigation law firm consisting of former IRS trial attorneys. We represent taxpayers in all aspects of tax disputes with the IRS, state, and local tax authorities, including audits, administrative appeals, offshore matters, and tax litigation. To schedule a consultation, please contact us at (310) 550-6200.