lecturers

Frank Agostino J.D.  LL.M.

Guest Speaker

Admitted to practice United States Tax Court | District Court of New Jersey | Southern District of New York | Second Circuit Court of Appeals | Third Circuit Court of Appeals

The invited guest speaker, Frank Agostino, is the founder and president of Agostino & Associates, P.C.  Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Agostino was an attorney with the Internal Revenue Service’s District Counsel in Springfield, Illinois and Newark, New Jersey. He also served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney, where he prosecuted primarily criminal tax cases.  An adjunct professor, Mr. Agostino taught tax controversy at Seton Hall University W. Paul Stillman School of Business and Rutgers School of Law. He also served as the co-director of the Rutgers Federal Tax Law Clinic. Mr. Agostino is a frequent speaker and author on tax controversy and litigation matters. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Journal of Tax Practice and Procedure. Mr. Agostino is actively involved with the American Bar Association and the New York County Lawyers’ Association.  Mr. Agostino is also the President of Taxpayers Assistance Corp., which provides tax and legal advice to low income taxpayers in the NY/NJ area. He received his legal education at New York Law School (J.D.) and New York University School of Law (LL.M.).

Judge John F. Dean J.D. LL.M.

Professor Emeritus & Dean Emeritus at the Tax Law Institute at Washington DC

Former United States Tax Court Special Trial Judge | Distinguished Judicial Speaker Emeritus at the Tax Law Institute | Member of the Bar United States Tax Court | Admitted to Practice Supreme Court of the United States | Former Tax Litigator in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel -Domestic & International

Judge John F. Dean sat on the bench for 20 years as Special Trial Judge (STJ) in the U.S. Tax Court. He joined the Tax Law Institute upon his retirement from the Court in 2014. He served as Distinguished Judicial Speaker for CE Programs for federally-authorized tax practitioners . He led remote discussions in trial practice, litigation, and legal ethics at the Tax Law Institute. He also led live, pre-bar-exam conferences, organized by TLI, at Georgetown University. Judge Dean was admitted to practice in numerous jurisdictions, including the Supreme Court of the United States, and various district courts. He was in legal practiced since 1974 and served the IRS as both domestic and international litigator. Judge Dean received his graduate legal education at Georgetown Law Center, where he earned the LL.M. in Taxation. He earned his J.D. at Catholic University. He was appointed Dean of the Tax Law Institute in 2021 and is now Dean Emeritus and fully retired from teaching. 

Joni Larson J.D.  LL.M.

Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Tax Law Institute at Washington DC

Former United States Tax Court Clerk to Judge Irene Scott | Distinguished Author |Member of the Bar United States Tax Court | Admitted to Practice in State of Indiana

Joni  Larson previously led the course in Tax Evidence based upon evidentiary principles and applications cited in her then-second edition of A Practitioner's Guide to Tax Evidence: A Primer on the Federal Rules of Evidence As Applied by the Tax Court. She published a third edition. Professor Larson also was an IRC Scholar as well a master of U.S. Tax Court rules of practice and procedure, skills she perfected while serving as a judicial law clerk for former Tax Court Judge Irene Scott. She had an intimate knowledge of case law, published opinion and of winning litigation strategies. Professor Larson was an active participant in the partnership and corporate tax lectures along with Judge Dean and Lecturer Emeritus, James Chapman, who serves as Director of Federal Tax Research at the Tax Law Institute. Professor Larson left the Tax Law Institute after the administration of the 2021 Tax bar, and after two years of lectureship at TLI. She was serving as tax litigator in the U.S. Treasury Department at the time of her death.  Joni Larson was considered one of the most endeared instructors ever to lecture at the Tax Law Institute. The bar candidates rated her as the best in decorum, student relations and course presentation. She will be dearly missed.

Robert E. McKenzie E.A. J.D. LL.M.

Guest Speaker

Admitted to practice in State of Illinois | United States Court of Claims | United States Tax Court

Robert E. McKenzie concentrated his practice in representing clients before the Internal Revenue Service and state agencies. He is presently fully retired. He has lectured extensively on the subject of taxation and has presented courses before thousands of CPA's, attorneys and enrolled agents nationwide. Attorney McKenzie is recognized as an authority and media source on IRS and tax-related issues, and he continues to be featured in national and international news stories, including appearances on Dateline NBC and ABC's World News Tonight. This includes his analysis, which appeared in various publications, regarding the IRS' efforts to uncover the identities of U.S. citizens with accounts in banks offshore.  Prior to entering private practice, Attorney McKenzie was employed by the Internal Revenue Service, Collection Division, in Chicago, Illinois.

Lorry Sorgman E.A. MST USTCP

Guest Speaker

Admitted to practice United States Tax Court 

Lorraine (Lorry) Sorgman, better known as just `Lorry’ has been an Enrolled Agent since 1987. Ms Sorgman earned both her B.S. in business administration and her master of science in taxation from Suffolk University. She is a Fellow and former President of NTPI’s Graduate Fellows’ Association. Over the years, she has presented workshops on various topics, such as Real Estate for Real Estate Professionals, Burden of Proof, and Privilege for Federally Authorized Tax Practitioners (Beast or Burden), Practitioner Penalties, and Collection Alternatives with the IRS, Family Daycare Providers, Record-keeping and Taxation, Tax Practice Management in the Electronic Age, Taxpayer Representation, Offer In Compromise, and has successfully defended a case in the United States Tax Court on whether the cost for a MBA is a valid deductible employee business expense.  Ms. Sorgman was the 2002 recipient of the Massachusetts Enrolled Agent of the Year, and the 2009 recipient as Mentor of The Year, awarded by the National Association of Enrolled Agents. 

John A. 'Jack' Townsend J.D. LL.M.

Guest Speaker

Admitted to practice in Texas and Virginia | Professor of Law at University of Virginia School of Law 

 In his own words, Professor Townsends writes the following: "My original law practice was with the Department of Justice Tax Division, where I served as an attorney in the Appellate Section and then as an attorney in a trial section. In the Appellate Section, I handled cases in all of the Courts of Appeals except the First Circuit and the D.C. Circuit, and worked on some briefs in opposition to taxpayer petitions for certioriari. In the trial section, I handled refund suits principally in the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta) and South Carolina, with some other venues in North Carolina, other districts in Georgia, Alabama and Florida. Since entering private practice in 1977, I have practiced as both a tax planning attorney (significantly in the partnership area) and a tax controversy attorney. From around 1990 (including predecessor firm with an of counsel relationship), to May 2018, I practiced with Townsend & Jones, LLP. My partner was Larry Jones, a great lawyer and friend. Although we continue to collaborate (conspire?) on matters of mutual interest, we decided to dissolve the partnership in view of our changed circumstances.

Specialties: Federal Tax Controversy, including IRS administrative matters (audits & appeals) and litigation in all federal courts at trial and appellate levels."