A. Lavar Taylor

A. Lavar Taylor has 30 years of experience in handling civil and criminal tax controversies. He handles litigation in U.S. District Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, U.S. Tax Court, U.S. Court of Claims, U.S. Courts of Appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He also handles administrative disputes within the IRS, including audits, collection matters, criminal investigations, administrative hearings with the Office of Appeals and Collection Due Process appeals.

Mr. Taylor, prior to entering private practice in 1989, served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California from 1987 to 1989. From 1984 to 1987, Mr. Taylor was a Senior Trial Attorney with the Laguna Niguel IRS District Counsel’s Office, where he handled Tax Court cases, criminal matters and complex collection matters for the IRS. From 1981 to 1984, Mr. Taylor was an Attorney with General Litigation Division of the IRS Office of Chief Counsel in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in collection, bankruptcy and summons matters for the IRS.

Mr. Taylor has a wealth of experience handling all aspects of tax disputes involving federal and state taxing agencies. He also serves as an expert witness in litigation between private parties where tax issues arise. Mr. Taylor serves as Tax Counsel to the firm of Shulman, Hodges & Bastian.

Reported Cases
Court of Appeals: Gorospe v. United States, 451 F.3d 966 (9th Cir. 2007), Ronald Moran Cadillac v. United States, 385 F.3d 1230 (9th Cir. 2004), Liti v. Commissioner, 289 F.3d 1103 (9th Cir. 2002), Vendor Surveillance Corp. v. United States, 97-2 U.S.T.C. 50,527 (9th Cir. 1997), Taffi v. United States (In re Taffi), 96 F.3d 1190 (9th Cir. 1996) (en banc), affirming 68 F.3d 306 (9th Cir. 1995), Miller v. United States, 66 F.3d 220 (9th Cir. 1995).

District Court: Parchan v. United States, 2011-1 U.S.T.C. 50,326 (C.D. Cal. 2011), appeal pending (9th Cir.), United States v. Novelli, 381 F. Supp.2d 1125 (C.D. Cal. 2005), Muffet Medlock v. United States, 325 F. Supp. 2d 1064 (C.D. Cal. 2003), United States v. Klein (In re Klein), 189 B.R. 505 (C.D. Cal. 1995).

Bankruptcy Court: Orange County District Attorney v. Powerplant Maintenance Specialists, Inc., unreported opinion [add link to opinion], (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 2008), Robinson, Diamant, Brill & Klausner v. Pacetti (In re Pacetti), 79 A.F.T.R. 2d 2619 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 1996), Znider v. United States (In re Znider), 150 B.R. 239 (Bankr C.D. Cal. 1993).

Publications
Mr. Taylor has authored articles and a number of legislative and administrative proposals, including proposals dealing with “Innocent Spouse” laws and Collection Due Process appeals. A number of the ideas contained in Mr. Taylor’s proposals were eventually enacted into law, including a) the expansion of the Tax Court’s jurisdiction in Collection Due Process cases, b) modification of the Tax Court’s jurisdiction in Innocent Spouse cases, and c) an increase in the amount of damages available when the IRS violates the law while seeking to collect taxes.

Teaching Experience
Mr. Taylor has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Chapman University School of Law, in Orange, California, where he currently teaches Federal Tax Procedure and runs the Appellate Tax Clinic, since 2004. The Appellate Tax Clinic, which is the first clinic of its kind in the United States, allows J.D. and LL.M. candidates to assist in the preparation Amicus Curiae Briefs filed with various courts around the United States in tax-related cases. These Amicus Curiae briefs are filed by the Center for the Fair Administration of Taxes, a not for profit organization whose purpose is to advocate for fair and even-handed administration of the tax laws. Mr. Taylor was previously an Adjunct Professor at Golden Gate University.

Mr. Taylor is very active in the Tax Section of the State Bar of California. He has served as the Chair of both the Procedure and Litigation Committee and the Bankruptcy Tax Committee of California State Bar’s Tax Section. He is also a member of the ABA Tax Section, the Tax Section and Commercial Law and Bankruptcy sections of the Orange County Bar Association and the Orange County Bankruptcy Forum.

Mr. Taylor is a regular speaker at programs sponsored by the Tax Section of the California State Bar and at other programs, including the UCLA Tax Controversy Institute, the USC Tax Institute, and the Cal Poly Pomona Tax Institute. He also speaks to groups of Certified Public Accountants and Enrolled Agents.