2012 FALL MEETING EDUCATIONAL
PROGRAM
Thursday,
November 8
8:30am-10:10am (100 Minutes)
Forensic Accounting: The Truth Behind the Numbers
This presentation begins with a discussion of
forensic accounting, from its definition to the specific characteristics which
separate it from auditing engagements and fraud examinations. While examining
the legal background, a focus on detection and investigative tools used by the
forensic accountant will be discussed. Various fraud schemes will be
introduced, and how these schemes can be uncovered and prevention measures that
can be recommended.
Speaker:
Rick Grey, CPA/ABV, CVA, ASA, Senior Manager - Business Valuation and Litigation Support
Services Group, Alpern Rosenthal
10:25am-11:15am (50 Minutes)
Hot Topics & Trustee Tax Traps
This session will cover critical recent developments
in estate and gift tax law as well as trust planning. It will incorporate law
changes, and relevant developments from Mr. Parthemer’s 2012 presentation at
the Heckerling Institute on 20 Tax Traps and Other Trustee Selection
Considerations.
Speaker:
Mark R. Parthemer, Esq., AEP, Managing Director and Fiduciary Counsel, Southeast Region, of
Bessemer Trust
11:15am-12:05pm (50 Minutes)
Identity Theft and the IRS’ Response to It
Identity Theft is a serious issue for the IRS and its reaction is ever changing. This program will provide the latest updates the IRS is doing to combat the issue, and how practitioners can procedurally best serve their clients upon indications of a fraudulent return.
Speaker:
Francis Kleckley, Director ,Office of Privacy and Information Protection, IRS
1:30pm-3:10pm (100 Minutes)
Choice of Business Entity
This session will be to analyze the tax and non-tax
factors involved in the entity selection process, and why entity selection is
such an important decision throughout the life cycle of a business. The presentation
will compare and contrast partnerships, limited liability companies, S
corporations and C corporations, and discuss what type of entities should be
formed for different types of businesses.
Speaker:
Richard B. Comiter, Esq., M.S.M., Senior Partner, Comiter, Singer, Baseman & Braun, LLP
Panelists:
Domenick R. Lioce, Esq., CPA, Nason, Yeager, Gerson, White & Lioce, P.A., Sydney S.
Traum, BBA, JD, LLM, CPA, of Counsel to Levey, Filler, Rodriguez, Kelso
& Magilligan, LLP
3:30pm-4:20pm (50 Minutes)
Planning Possibilities for Portability-Panacea, Pain or Place Placebo?
Portability, currently a temporary provision in the estate and gift tax regime, will likely become a mainstay. Treasury recently issued very favorable temporary and proposed regulations that are taxpayer friendly. Understanding portability and how it may change the way to plan will be important to your practice. You will be able to explore whether portability is a pain, the panacea or simply a placebo for your clients’ planning needs.
Speaker:
Lester Law, Esq., CPA, Managing Director, U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management
Friday, November 9
8:30am-10:10 am (100
Minutes)
What Every Lawyer and
CPA Needs to Know About Client Trust Accounts
Major changes in the electronic banking laws and disciplinary
rules put the uninformed lawyer at serious financial and disciplinary risk.
With more than 15 years of research and 25 years of experience our presenter
will show you how to recognize and anticipate problems to be solved and
solutions that you can use for yourself and for your clients.
Speaker:
Jay Foonberg, Esq., CPA
10:20am-11:35am (75
Minutes)
The Taxation of Exotic Investment Products
Sold to Individuals
Investing has gone beyond stocks, bonds, and
mutual funds. Today, high-net-worth individuals are being offered an array of
alternative asset classes and investments. From commodities, exchange-traded
notes, to foreign sovereign and emerging-market debt, these investments often
utilize complex financial instruments and derivatives, catch the taxpayer and
tax professionals unaware. This presentation will discuss the taxation of these
“exotic” investments pointing out traps, where the tax code is unclear, and
where tax advisors are likely to see change in the future.
Speaker:
Paul Lee, Esq., LLM, National Managing Director of Bernstein Global
Wealth Management
11:35am-12:50pm (75
Minutes)
OVDI – Latest
Developments and Practicalities
This session will
focus on the latest information available on the IRS’ Offshore Voluntary
Disclosure Program, including practical application and opt-out.
Speaker:
Marc Schwartz, Esq., CPA, Schwartz International
2:00pm-3:15pm (100
Minutes)
Asset Protection
This session will explore the critical wealth preservation
issues and answers that lawyers and CPAs need to understand: Defining wealth
protection planning; Fraud v. Fraudulent Conveyance; Solvency Calculation;
Contempt and Defenses; Professional Liability.
Speaker:
Denis Kleinfeld, Esq., of Counsel to Fuerst Ittleman, PL, The
Kleinfeld Law Firm, P.A.
Saturday, November 10
8:00am-9:40am (100
Minutes)
Emerging Technology for Today’s Practitioner
Cloud computing, new
device integration, practical ideas in effectively utilizing the latest
technology for your practice.
Speaker:
Deron Harrington, Esq., CPA, Harrington, Carbone & Allison, LLP
Meet Our Faculty
Richard B. Comiter, Esq., M.S.M, is the senior partner of Comiter, Singer,
Baseman & Braun, LLP, a Florida regional tax law firm. The focus of Richard’s
practice is federal income and estate tax planning, partnership and limited
liability company state law, structuring of business transactions for
pass-through entities, succession and wealth transfer planning, probate, asset
protection and non-qualified executive compensation. Richard was awarded a B.S.B.A. with Honors
from the University of Florida and earned a M.S.M. in Tax Accounting from
Florida International University. He received his Juris Doctor, with Honors,
and a Master of Laws in Taxation from the Fredric G. Levin College of Law at
the University of Florida. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Levin
College of Law and is Chairman of its Planned Giving Task Force.
Richard has been acknowledged as a leader in the field of
taxation and estate planning by his peers as well as by leading legal publications.
He was recently selected as the 2010-2011 Recipient of the Tax Section of The
Florida Bar Gerald T. Hart Outstanding Tax Attorney of the Year Award. He has
been recognized in the field of corporate tax by Who’s Who Legal, as a
member of the Florida Legal Elite by Florida Trend, as a Top Lawyer in
Tax and Estate Planning by the South Florida Legal Guide, as a Top 100
Florida Super Lawyer, The Best Lawyers in America, and as a Leading
Lawyer for Business in Chambers USA. He is a Fellow of The American College
of Trust and Estate Counsel and is currently serving on its Asset Protection
and Business Planning Committees. He is also a member of Florida Blue Key.
He is a Past-Chair of the Tax Section of The Florida Bar
(the “Tax Section”). He has also served as the Director of the Education
Division and Federal Tax Divisions of the Tax Section, and is a former Chair of
its Individual and Pass-Through Entities, Finance, and Long Range Planning
Committees. He is currently a member of the Steering and Drafting Committee
which is in the process of revising Florida’s Limited Liability Company Act. Richard
was formerly a member of the Limited Partnership Act Review Committee, and the
Steering and Drafting Committee for the revisions to Florida’s Limited Liability
Company Act and the Florida Revised Uniform Partnership Act. His annually
lectures on Pass-Through Entities and Entity Selection at The Florida Bar’s Tax
Certification and Review Conference and the FICPA’s Florida Institute on
Federal Taxation Conference. Mr. Comiter was a columnist on S Corporations and
Partnership State Law and a member of the Board of Advisors and Contributing
Editors for the Journal of Partnership Taxation. Richard is also a Florida
Bar Board Certified Tax Lawyer and a Florida Certified Public Accountant.
Richard has previously served as President of the Palm
Beach/Martin County Estate Planning Council and the Palm Beach County Tax
Institute. He is a Past-President of the Jewish Community Center of the Greater
Palm Beaches, a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of
Palm Beach County and a Past-Chair of its Professional Advisory Committee. Mr.
Comiter previously served as the Regional Vice-President and member of the
Board of Directors of the Florida Association of Attorney-Certified Public
Accountants. He has lectured in
programs sponsored by the American Bar Association, The Florida Bar, the
Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, The American College of
Trust and Estate Counsel, the Lawyers Guaranty Fund Assembly, New York
University’s Institutes on Partnership Taxation and Closely Held Businesses,
the National Business Institute and the Graduate Tax Department at the Levin
College of Law at the University of Florida.
Jay Foonberg, Esq., CPA, is one of the founders of
the AAA-CPA and served as association president. A graduate of both U.C.L.A. and U.C.L.A. Law,
Foonberg has pursued further education with courses at Harvard Law School,
Cambridge University, England and Duke University School of Law. He is a
founder of the ABA Law Practice Management Section and the General Practice,
Solo and Small Firm Division, as well as a member of the ABA House of Delegates. The ABA recognized him four times with
lifetime achievement awards including the Prestigious Harrison Tweed Award as
the Most Outstanding Continuing Legal Educator in the USA. He is possibly the most knowledgeable person
in America on the subject of lawyer trust accounts teaching Lawyer Client Trust
Accounts to attorneys for more than twenty years. Foonberg is the only person to have lectured
for CLE in all US fifty states, and six territories, and on all seven
continents including Antarctica. A
renowned author, his book How to Start
and Build a Law Practice, is a best seller and the most stolen book from
law libraries in the U.S. He also wrote The American Bar Association Guide to Lawyer
Trust Accounts.
Richard Gray, CPA/ABV, CVA, ASA, provides valuation services for a wide variety of
businesses and industries, closely-held stock, and intangible assets as they
apply to both private and public companies. His industry experience ranges from software development firms to
aquaculture. He has valued businesses in retail, manufacturing, professional
service (including medical practices, law and accounting firms, advertising,
and engineering firms), information technology, bioscience, and the hospitality
industry. Richard has conducted valuations for such matters as marital
dissolution, shareholder disputes, estate and gift tax planning, commercial
litigation, buy-sell agreements, damage computations, mergers and acquisitions
and corporate reorganizations.
Richard’s forensic accounting experience has been
utilized by attorneys and clients for a variety of litigation and
non-litigation matters. He has provided forensic investigation services
in cases for marital dissolution, suspected embezzlement involving
not-for-profit organizations, debtor/creditor disputes, and calculations of
damages and loss of earnings.
Deron R. Harrington, Esq., CPA, practices in the areas of business law,
energy, estate planning, probate and taxation, in Houston, Texas. In addition, he is a practicing CPA in the
accounting firm of Harrington, Carbone & Allison, LLP. He is a graduate of South Texas College of LA
and Oklahoma State University. He has
held various financial and executive positions with four separate Fortune 500
companies and has served in the United State Army both as an enlisted soldier
and a commissioned officer.
Denis Kleinfeld, Esq., CPA, is of Counsel to Fuerst Ittleman
David and Joseph, PL, in Miami, Florida and Professor of Law, LLM International
Tax Program, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, California. Mr.
Kleinfeld primarily advises both U.S. and international businesspersons,
investors, professionals, families, and individuals in wealth preservation
planning.
This
planning encompasses such diverse areas of law as U.S. and international estate
planning, income tax analysis and planning, tax compliance, business
transactions, asset and personal migration, and investment planning,
structuring and implementation. He also provides legal guidance and due
diligence services for clients presented with various business and investment
opportunities. Denis is well regarded for his ability to identify areas of
concern and develop pragmatic solutions.
He has extensive experience and training as a lawyer, teacher and
writer.
Denis
is the author of various chapters in prominent legal publications such as Administration of Trusts
in Florida, and Choosing An Offshore
Jurisdiction. He has also authored chapters in Attorney Ethical Liability in the Application of the Terms ‘Fraud’
versus ‘Fraudulent Transfers’ Under the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act,
and Use of Civil Law Foundations for
Asset Protection, published by the American Bar Association in Asset Protection Strategies: Wealth
Preservation Planning with Domestic and Offshore Entities Vols. I and II. He has written extensively in professional
and general circulation magazines and publications on a wide variety of tax,
insurance, estate planning, treaty planning, domestic and international asset
protection, and investment issues as well as observations on relevant
political, social and economic issues. He is on the Board of Editors of Estate
Planning Magazine, writes a Monday blog for Newsmax’s Moneynews.com, regular
contributor to the IFC Review, and has been a Contributing Editor to the
Offshore Investment Magazine among numerous other journals and magazines.
Professor Kleinfeld is the founder of, and now serves as co-chairman for, the
Florida Annual Wealth Protection Conference. He also participates in the Annual
Planning for Physicians Conference for the Florida Bar, and is a speaker or
presenter at a wide variety of professional conferences, seminars, and
symposiums in the United States and around the world.
Denis
was born in Chicago, Illinois. After obtaining his B.S. degree in Accountancy
from the University of Illinois in 1967 being registered there as a Certified
Public Accountant, he enrolled at the Loyola University of Chicago School of
Law, graduating in 1970. He was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1970 and was
employed as an attorney with the Internal Revenue Service in the Estate and
Gift Tax Division. Denis is a member of the Florida Bar, a member of the
Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the American Bar
Association, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Lester Law, Esq., LLM is a senior Vice
President and Wealth Strategist of the National Wealth Strategies Group of U.S.
Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. Prior to joining U.S. Trust,
he practiced for about 13 years as an attorney focusing on estate and trust
planning and administration and corporate and partnership law. Lester received
his degrees from University of Florida (LL.M. - Tax), The University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill (JD), University of Miami (MST) and Florida
International University (BBA - Accounting). Lester is board certified from the
Florida Bar in the area of Wills, Trust and Estates. Lester is an active
committee member of the ABA's Real Property Trust and Estate Section and the
Florida Bar's Real Property Probate and Trust Law section.
Paul S. Lee, Esq., LLM is
a National Managing Director of Bernstein Global Wealth Management, a position
he assumed in 2006; he is also a member of the firm’s Wealth Management Group,
which he rejoined in 2008. Previously, he had been a managing director in the
London and New York offices. Prior to joining the firm in 2000 as a Wealth
Management Group director, he was a partner in the Atlanta-based law firm of
Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP. Paul received a BA, cum laude, in English
and a BA in chemistry from Cornell University, and a JD, with honors, from
Emory University School of Law, where he was notes and comments editor of the Emory Law Journal; he also received an
LLM in taxation from Emory University. Paul was the recipient of the Georgia
Federal Tax Conference Award for Outstanding Tax Student and the Ernst &
Young Award for Tax and Accounting. A frequent lecturer and panelist on investment
planning and tax and estate planning, Paul has spoken at the Heckerling
Institute on Estate Planning, the ACTEC National Meeting, the ABA Tax-RPTE
Joint National CLE Conference, the Southern Federal Tax Institute, the USC
Institute on Federal Taxation and the Notre Dame Tax and Estate Planning
Institute. His articles have been published by The ACTEC Law Journal; BNA Tax Management Estates, Gifts and Trusts
Journal; BNA Tax Management Memorandum; The Practical Tax Lawyer; Major Tax
Planning; Trusts & Estates;
and the Emory Law Journal.
Domenick R. Lioce, Esq., CPA is a partner in the firm Nason,
Yeager, Gerson, White & Lioce, P.A.
A certified public accountant in Florida
since 1976, Domineck Lioce was admitted to the bar in Florida in 1979 (U.S.
District Court, U.S. Tax Court, U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit), after
receiving his undergraduate, graduate, and legal education at Florida State
University (BS, 1973; MA, 1978; JD, 1979). He is a member of the Florida
Institute of Certified Public Accountants; American Bar Association: Member of
the Tax Section; Florida Bar Association: Member of the Tax Section, Member of
the Tax Section Board of Directors, Member of the Executive Council, and
Chairman of the Tax Sponsors Committee and Co-chairman of the Finance Committee
and the Long-Range Planning Committee; Member and Vice Chairman of the Business
Law Section Bar/FICPA Liaison Committee; Member of the Drafting Committee of
the New Florida Revised Limited Liability Company Act; Former Member of the
Drafting Committee of the Florida Revised Limited Partnership Act and the
Florida Revised Partnership Act; American Association of Attorney-CPAs,
Executive Vice- President of the Florida Chapter, Member of the National Board
of Directors and Executive Committee, Assistant Secretary; Member and Director
of the National Continuing Education Committee and Chairman of the National
Sponsors Committee; Director and Past President of Palm Beach Tax Institute;
Member and past Board Member of Florida State Alumni Association; past Chairman
of Forum Club of the Palm Beaches. He has authored numerous articles and is
also a frequent lecturer.
Christopher Merrill
currently represents the Internal Revenue Service as a Stakeholder Liaison in
the field of education and outreach.
Working with tax professionals, payroll providers, industry associations
and their memberships, Chris has been delivering outreach messaging on relevant
tax topics to practitioner and business stakeholders since 2001. A statistics major from Florida State
University, Chris started his IRS career in 1991, specializing in individual
income tax programs as a Tax Auditor before being picked up in the
Communications and Stakeholder Outreach branch.
Mark
R. Parthemer, Esq., AEP, is a Managing Director and
Fiduciary Counsel, Southeast Region, of Bessemer Trust, an exclusive wealth
management firm for ultra high net worth individuals. Mr. Parthemer oversees Bessemer Trust’s
legacy and estate planning services from the Miami through Washington, DC
offices. He is a frequent national lecturer and published author on taxation,
estate planning, trust law and wealth management.
Mark has been Vice-Chair of the Insurance & Financial
Planning Committee of the American Bar Association (Real Property, Trust &
Estate Law) and currently is Co-Chair of the ABA’s Non-Tax Issues Affecting the
Planning and Administration of Estates and Trusts Committee. He is a member of the Florida Bankers
Association Executive Council (chair, Trust Legislation Committee), a Board
Member of, and ABA Liaison to, Synergy Summit, and a member of the Florida and
Pennsylvania Bar Associations.
He writes a regular column for the Journal of Financial
Service Professionals magazine and contributes to other periodicals, including
Probate & Property and Estate Planning magazines. He often has been faculty for the University
of Miami’s prestigious Heckerling Institute, the NYU and Tulane Tax Institutes,
an adjunct professor of accounting and finance law at Widener University School
of Law, and a guest lecturer at University of Miami’s LLM program.
He has been honored for over 10 years as one of The Best Lawyers in America (Trust
and Estates); Lifetime Achievement Among US Professionals; Best Legal Eagles in
Florida, and a South Florida Super Lawyer.
He has served on public company as well as numerous community and
charity boards. He is active in his
church and currently serves on several national committees of his church’s
denomination, particularly finance and endowment fund investments.
Prior
to joining Bessemer Trust in 2004, Mark was in private law practice in
Pennsylvania and Florida, most recently as a Trust and Estate partner with
Duane Morris LLP. He also spent several years at PricewaterhouseCoopers and was
involved in private businesses. He received his J. D. from The Dickinson School
of Law, Penn State University, and his B.A. and B.S. degrees from Franklin and
Marshall College. Mark has achieved
Accredited Estate Planner status from the National Association of Estate
Planners and Councils and earned certification for MBA phase one studies.
Marc Schwartz, Esq., CPA, has lived and worked in the US and abroad in both governmental and
private sector roles. His diversified experience has allowed him to bring a
global perspective to the business. He holds a B.A. from Colgate University, a
Master’s in International Affairs from Columbia University, and a law degree
from Emory University.
Marc began his career at the
Big 6 in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. Here he built a strong foundation in
federal, state/local and international tax over several years for both
individual and corporate clients. He transferred to the firm’s Mexico City
office and developed an expertise in Latin American tax to supplement his
European, Asian and U.S. tax base. He built on this experience when he was sent
to help develop the firm’s Miami-based business. In Miami, he developed
additional experience with inbound investment to the US.
Marc’s geographically diverse
client base has allowed him to gain significant experience with tax treaties,
outbound/inbound planning, repatriation, foreign tax credits, real estate
investments/FIRPTA, branch taxes and audit defense. He has taught a graduate
level international tax course at the Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City.
Today he continues to lecture on international tax issues, and he also writes for
various trade publications. Marc is fluent in Spanish and has a working
knowledge of Portuguese.
Sydney
S. Traum, BBA, JD, LLM, CPA practices law in
Miami-Dade County, Florida. His professional association is of Counsel to the
law firm of Levey, Filler, Rodriguez, Kelso & Magilligan, LLP. He is author of The S Corporation: Planning & Operation and also The
S Corporation Answer Book, both published by Aspen Publishers, Inc. Recently he authored articles in The Tax
Adviser and the Journal of Accountancy.
The FICPA Editorial Committee named Traum as the winner of the 2011
Writing Excellence Award for his article, “Update on S Corporations,” which was
published in the January/February 2011 issue of Florida CPA Today.
A
licensed CPA and attorney in both New York and Florida, Sydney is a past
president of the American Association of
Attorney-CPAs; the Dade County Chapter
of the Florida Institute of CPAs (FICPA) ; the Greater Miami Tax Institute; and
Beth David Congregation in Miami. He is
a past chair of The Florida Bar Committee on Relations with CPAs. He is currently the Board Chairman of the Florida
Association of Attorney-CPAs and is Treasurer of the Harvard Club of
Miami. He is currently serving as a member of the
American Association of Attorney-CPAs Executive Committee, the FICPA Federal Taxation Committee, the American Bar Association Tax Section S
Corporations Committee, The Florida Bar Probate Rules Committee, the
American Institute of CPAs Tax Division
S Corporation Technical Resource Panel and of the Board of Directors of the FICPA
Miami-Dade County Chapter. He is also
Editor of the Baptist Health Foundation Professional Advisory Committee
Newsletter.
Sydney received his BBA from the Baruch School of the
City College of New York, JD from Harvard Law School, and LLM (Taxation) from
New York University Law School. He is
Florida Bar Board Certified in Taxation and also in Wills, Trusts and
Estates. Sydney is rated AV (the highest
rating possible) by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.