National and local experts will speak at three-day event
—By Lori Craig
Harry L. “Hank” Gutman, director of KPMG’s Tax Governance Institute, is among the prominent tax experts scheduled to speak at the USC Gould School of Law 2008 Tax Institute. The three-day conference for attorneys and tax professionals will be held in downtown Los Angeles on Jan. 28 to 30.
Gutman will present his keynote address, “Legislative Preview: Looking Ahead at Corporate Taxation in 2009-10,” during the luncheon on the first day of the event. With KPMG’s tax governance group, Gutman facilitates discussions about issues of tax risk and its management between various participants. Gutman also is Principal-in-Charge, Federal Tax Legislative and Regulatory Services, in the Washington National Tax practice of KPMG. He is a former chief of staff for the U.S. Congress Joint Committee on Taxation, where he was the primary nonpartisan advisor to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees.
Other keynote speakers are the Honorable Mary Ann Cohen, United States Tax Court judge and a 1967 USC Law graduate, and Marcus S. Owens, a member in Caplin & Drysdale’s Washington, D.C. Cohen will present “Perspectives of a Tax Court Judge” during lunch and will also host a “do’s and don’ts” session in the afternoon on Jan. 29. Owens, whose practice focuses on exempt organizations, will speak on “The Future of Charity Oversight: Good Cop or Bad Cop.”
Now in its 61st year, the Institute will focus on large and privately held corporations, partnership and real estate tax planning, individual tax planning, estate planning, and enforcement. Additional speakers include returning experts from Washington, D.C., Mark Silverman and Blake Rubin, speaking on “Recent Developments in Tax Planning;” local attorney David Lane on “State and Federal Tax Allocation;” and Emory University School of Law Professor Jeffrey N. Pennell, who will present remotely.
The Institute will be held Monday, Jan. 28, through Wednesday, Jan. 30, at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites, 404 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles. For a complete schedule and registration information, visit http://lawweb.usc.edu/academics/cle/tax.cfm.