THE tAX lAW iNSTITUTE at wASHINGTON in the district of columbia

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

Professor Emeritus  | Dean Emeritus 

Former United States Tax Court Special Trial Judge | Distinguished Judicial Speaker Emeritus   | Former Member of the Bar United States Tax Court | Formerly 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, at which time, he was honored by the Tax Law Institute at an University Club dinner in Washington, DC sponsored by the Harvard Club of Washington, DC. 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 M. Law 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. He previously sat as a member of the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Federal Tax Clinic.

Joni Larson J.D.  LL.M.

Former Distinguished Visiting Professor

Admitted to practice in State of Indiana | United States Tax Court

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 has since published a third edition. Professor Larson is also 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 has an intimate knowledge of case law, published opinion and of winning litigation strategies. Professor Larson was an active participant in the Substantive Tax Law 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 Non-attorney Examination, and after two years of lectureship at TLI. She now serves as tax litigator in the U.S. Treasury Department. 

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

Former Visiting Lecturer Emeritus 

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.

Frank Agostino J.D.  LL.M.

Former Visiting Lecturer

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.).

Lorry Sorgman E.A. MST USTCP

Former Visiting Lecturer

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. Ms Sorgman is among a handful of Enrolled Agents permitted to practice in the United States Tax Court.  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. 

Louis L.B. Carpenter CPA CFP USTCP

Assistant Professor of Federal Tax Practice

United States Tax Court Practitioner | Tax Litigation Counsel | Member of the Bar United States Tax Court

Tax Litigation Counsel and Lecturer Louis L.B. Carpenter has been in Federal Tax Practice as a CPA (Florida) for almost 30 years. He is a Certified Financial Planner. He provides federal tax litigation support to attorneys and is often called upon to express his knowledge of the IRC and published opinions. Consequently, numerous attorneys rely upon him to serve as expert witness. Mr. Carpenter is a contributing speaker to the Bar Prep. He was named Chief Tax Litigation Counsel and Tax Practice Director at the Tax Law Institute in 2020 and was elevated to Assistant Professor of Federal Tax Practice in 2024. He confers with judicial counsel, legal academics, and IRC scholars before pleading and joinder of issue. He recently successfully settled a two-million-dollar Federal civil tax controversy in U.S. Tax Court for $450. He was trained in U.S. Tax Court trial practice and litigation at the Tax Law Institute. He was degreed with the B.Sc. in accounting after graduating from the University of Miami.

Michael Jerome Stuart J.D. MPA

Professor Emeritus | John F. Dean Professor of Tax Litigation and U.S. Tax Court Trial Practice 

Former Chair of Teaching Faculty of Joint Program in Taxation & Litigation at the University of Alabama School of Law Graduate Tax Program and Tax Law Institute | President of Hawaii Federal Tax Clinic

Michael Jerome Stuart is a former tax policy advisor to the White House; past visiting scholar appointee for public policy (taxation) at Yale Law School; and former special consultant (Islamic banking, auditing & finance) to Harvard University. He spent 20 years on Wall Street as a financier and developer of affordable housing. He is editor of, and principal contributing author to, the Guide to Admission and Practice in U.S. Tax Court. From 2014 to 2018, he chaired the Teaching Faculty and coordinated the Joint Program in Taxation and Litigation at the Tax Law Institute and University of Alabama School of Law Graduate Tax Program (defunct). His public service endeavor with the Consumer Bankruptcy Unit of the Legal Aid Society included negotiated workouts with the IRS for indigent clients. He earned a Bachelors of Law in Jurisprudence, cum laude, and Doctor of Law (J.D.), cum laude, at the British-American Law School, in partnership with the University of Cambridge, Program in English Common Law (defunct) - world's first virtual law program. He was appointed tenured professor of law (Islamic banking law & finance) and academic dean at the law school. He was invited as visiting lecturer (Islamic banking) to the Southern New England School of Law, re-chartered University of Massachusetts School of Law Dartmouth. He was a founding staff member of the Harvard Islamic Banking and Financial Information Program at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University aka Harvard Finance Project (HFP) at Harvard Law School.  As a senior researcher, database manager and writer, he helped produce the publication of the world's first academic software database covering the Islamic finance industry, the IFP DataBank.  Previously, he served as interim aide to the North American Secretary at the Trilateral Commission and trained in international business relations and financial management at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is certified in political economy and elementary Mandarin Chinese (Harvard) and earned a master's degree in public administration (international relations) from Harvard (Kennedy School). He graduated Fordham with a B.A. in Sociology, magna cum laude, where he was named U.S. Justice Department LEEP Scholar and inducted  into the national honor society. He is an alumnus of the Yale School of Architecture Environmental Design Program and a past executive director of The Wildlife Trust, charged to protect the habitat of the mountain gorilla in Uganda and the rainforest in Brazil. He manages TLI's charitable giving program and is co-founder of the Hawaii Federal Tax Clinic, with offices on O'ahu and Mau'i (opening 2024). 

Daniel Ng J.D.  LL.M.

Lecturer in Litigation Strategies

Specialist in Case Law | Former Hedge Fund Manager | Cross-Border Tax Expert

Daniel Ng joined the Tax Law Institute at its founding as an aide to the Program Director. He left to start his own hedge fund. He returned in 2023 to assist with litigation training as a Visiting Lecturer. He is a specialist in litigation with special skills in motions practice, case and procedural practice and research, and legal styling. Daniel is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his J.D. at the British American Program in Partnership with Cambridge University Program in English Common Law (defunct). He holds the LL.M. degree in Litigation Theory and Practice and a Certificate in Advanced Advocacy from Golden Gate University School of Law. He is an expert in Asian tax laws and a specialist on various topics related to Chinese international trade and finance. He speaks, reads, and writes in several Chinese dialects. 

James H. Chapman E.A. M.A. MPA

Associate Professor of Federal Tax Practice

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Certified Pretrial Tax Litigation Specialist | National Tax Practice Institute Fellow | Chair of the Board of Directors of Hawaii Federal Tax Clinic

IRS Enrolled Agent James H. Chapman is a specialist in tax accountancy, specifically in auditing and fraud detection. A former government analyst, Mr. Chapman has been an IRS Enrolled Agent and NTPI Fellow for almost 15 years. He joined the Tax Law Institute in 2008 as a tax bar applicant and returned as guest lecturer, after which he became a volunteer member of the Teaching Faculty speaking to federal tax accounting matters. He lectured in the non-attorney admissions and tax bar review program for 10 years. During his tenure he established the program certification in pretrial tax litigation aka the Chapman Certification. Mr. Chapman also served as a TLI representative to the 2014 Judicial Conference held by the U.S. Tax Court and hosted by Duke University Law School. Aside from the IRS approval to practice, he holds the M.P.A. and M.A. degrees from Webster College. He is designated as Chief Tax Accountant for TLI. He also coordinates and moderates the independent Gleim program in foundational tax, gratis for all tax bar applicants.

​​​​​​​Janean A. Kong E.A.

Assistant Lecturer in Federal Tax Practice  |  Clinic Director of Hawaii Federal Tax Clinic

Assistant Coordinator of Approved U.S. Tax Court Clinical, Student Practice and Calendar Call Program

Certified in Pretrial Tax Litigation | State of Hawaii Certified Tax Strategist | State of Hawaii Master Tax Tutor | University of Hawaii Certified in Professional Accountant

Janean A. Kong has been approved to practice as an IRS Enrolled Agent for more than 15 years. She joined TLI as a bar applicant in 2014. In 2016 and again in 2018, she was designated teaching assistant at TLI and litigation assistant, respectively. In 2019, after discussions with TLI, she agreed to assist in the development of the Hawaii Federal Tax Clinic and personally opened its doors to the public in Honolulu in May 2021. She presently serves as Clinic Director and oversees the day-to-day operations. She supervises a staff composed of an administrative assistant and several volunteers. At weekly conferences, she reports to the project director and the Board of Directors. She was recently appointed Coordinator of the Hawaii Federal Tax Clinic 2024 U.S. Tax Court Clinical, Student Practice and Calendar Call Program, in addition to her current duties, she coordinates tax cases docketed with the Honolulu U.S. Tax Court. She appeared at the most recent U.S. Tax Court Honolulu Calendar Call where she collaborated with attorney and student-attorney of the Federal Tax Clinic at the University of Washington School of Law. She was also recently designated Lecturer in Federal Tax Procedure for 2024-2025.

Serina Moy E.A.

Lecturer in Federal Tax Practice

Preceptor | Approved U.S. Tax Court Clinical, Student Practice and Calendar Call Program

Serina Moy joined us in 2020 as a 40-year veteran of  Federal tax practice. Founder and Principal of Moy Cheung & Company, CPAs and EAs, a tax resolution and controversy, and international tax and audit representation firm situated in northwest Washington DC and in Rockville  MD. She also operates independently as Serina & Associates of northwest Washington DC. She specializes in individual tax preparation, tax preparation for businesses, tax planning, estate and trust tax services and provides tax relief. Serina was recently awarded a lectureship at the Tax Law Institute and was also nominated to serve as a member of the board of directors of the Hawai'i Federal Tax Clinic on O'ahu and Mau'i. She is expected to be confirmed and appointed to the board at the next quarterly meeting of the BOD.