Speaker: Lawrence M. Cirelli, Partner at Hanson Bridgett LLP

Larry is a trial lawyer and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. His practice focuses on complex business litigation, including disputes among shareholders, owners, officers and directors of companies, fiduciary duty, contracts, trade secrets, non-competition agreements and unfair competition claims. He represents clients in partnership and corporate dissolution actions. His experience as a certified public accountant brings a unique skill set and perspective to these types of matters. A significant part of his practice also involves the defense of consumer and business tort actions. In addition, Larry handles professional liability and product liability litigation. He has tried numerous jury and court trials, as well as arbitrations, in a range of cases spanning business torts, commercial contracts, business dissolutions, real estate, insurance, professional liability and products liability.

 

Speaker: Jay Foonberg, Attorney, CPA, CLE Presenter, Author

Jay has served in the ABA House of Delegates; he is on the Advisory Council for the ABA Commission on Evaluation of the Rules of Professional Conduct and he was a founder of the ABA Law Practice Management Section. His book, How To Start and Build a Law Practice (5th edition), is the book that is most frequently stolen from law libraries in the United States and it has earned more than $1 million for the ABA, and has been their best seller every year since 1977. Mr. Foonberg is the author of three other important books, all available from the ABA: How to Get and Keep Good Clients (3rd edition); Finding the Right Lawyer; and The ABA Guide to Lawyer Trust Accounts. A much sought after speaker, Jay has led seminars and taught client relations, malpractice prevention, legal ethics and client development in every one of the 50 states and as far afield as Europe, South America and Asia in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Jay earned his JD from UCLA Law School and has received the prestigious Harrison Tweed Award, CLE’s highest honor. He lives and practices in Beverly Hills, California.

Recognition of his skills has resulted in his being perhaps the only person ever honored for lifetime achievements with awards from 4 American Bar Association entities including the following:

• Harrison Tweed award from the ABA-PLI Consortium on Continuing Legal Education for being the Most Outstanding CLE Educator in the United States.
• Sam Smith Medal for Lifetime Achievement by the Law Practice Management Section of the ABA.
• Don Riklis award for Lifetime Achievement by the General Practice Solo and Small Firm Division of the ABA.
• Law Student Division of The ABA for Life Time Achievement.
• Lou Goldberg Award as the Most Outstanding Attorney-CPA in the United States by the American Association of Attorney-CPA’s.

 

Jay has also been decorated by the nations of Argentina and Brazil for his work in International Trade as well as having been accepted by The Knights of Malta for his work with hospitals throughout the world.

Speaker: Annette Nellen, Professor and Director of San José State University
Annette Nellen, CPA, CGMA, Esq., is a professor in and director of San José State University's graduate tax program (MST), teaching courses in tax research, accounting methods, property transactions, employment tax, ethics, and tax policy.

Annette serves on the AICPA Tax Executive Committee and the AICPA Tax Reform Task Force. She is a past chair of the AICPA Individual Taxation Technical Resource Panel. Annette was the lead author of the AICPA tax policy concept statement #1, Guiding Principles of Good Tax Policy: A Framework for Evaluating Tax Proposals (2001), still in use today. Annette is the recipient of the 2013 Arthur J. Dixon Memorial Award given by the Tax Division of the AICPA, the highest award given by the accounting profession in the area of taxation. In fall 2013, Annette completed a three-year term on the Executive Committee of the Taxation Section of the California Bar. Annette is a former chair of the ABA Tax Section’s Sales, Exchanges & Basis Committee. Annette is the author of Bloomberg BNA Tax Portfolio #533, Amortization of Intangibles. She is also the author of Bloomberg BNA Internet Law Resource Center’s portfolio, Overview of Internet Taxation Issues. She is an editor for two of the Southwestern Federal Taxation textbooks. She is a monthly columnist (Moving Forward?) for Tax Analysts’ State Tax Notes. Annette has testified before the House Ways & Means Committee, Senate Finance Committee, California Assembly Revenue & Taxation Committee, and tax reform commissions and committees on various aspects of federal and state tax reform. In 2000, she served on the academic panel that advised the Joint Committee on Taxation staff for the tax law simplification study submitted to Congress in 2001. In 2015 she was appointed to the California Board of Equalization Executive Director’s Advisory Council for a two-year term. Annette maintains the 21st Century Taxation website and blog (http://www.21stcenturytaxation.com), as well as several websites on tax reform, state tax nexus, e-commerce taxation, worker classification, virtual currency taxation, and tax and ethical issues for marijuana businesses and tax advisers. Annette is a graduate of CSU Northridge (BS Accounting), Pepperdine (MBA), and Loyola Law School (JD). Prior to joining SJSU in 1990, Annette was with Ernst & Young and the IRS.  Director, MST Program at SJSU  http://www.sjsu.edu/people/annette.nellen/

 

Speaker: Michael G. Polis, CPA, Esq., Partner at Wilke Fleury LLP

Michael G. Polis is a Partner at Wilke Fleury LLP. His practice focuses on Knox‐Keene Act licensed health care service plans and insurance regulatory matters. In addition, he represents health care providers, including physicians, dentists, optometrists, MSOs, IPAs and practice management companies. Michael provides legal services to Narcotic Treatment Programs, residential and non‐residential alcohol and substance abuse facilities and Federally Qualified Health Canter along with providing legal counsel to individuals and business entities on tax, bankruptcy and general corporate‐related legal issues. The emphasis of Michael’s practice is the licensure of health care facilities, HMOs and insurers. Michael also teaches business law and legal research and writing at the University of California, Davis and his extensive writings on healthcare‐related issues have appeared in The Sacramento Lawyer, the California Optometric Association’s monthly newsletter and Sacramento Medicine and Solano Physician magazines.