Prior to joining Sidley, Nathan was a member of the tax practice at a prominent law firm in Washington, D.C. He represented businesses and individual clients in an array of federal tax matters. Nathan was also previously a trial lawyer in the Tax Division of the DOJ. At the DOJ, he served as lead counsel in both jury and bench trials before federal district courts. While there, Nathan litigated some of the Tax Division’s most significant cases, including multiple large tax shelter suits and nationwide civil injunction actions. Nathan is a three-time recipient of the DOJ Tax Division’s Outstanding Attorney Award, and was honored with the IRS Chief Counsel’s Mitchell Rogovin Award for outstanding support by the DOJ.
Representative Matters have included:
- Union Pacific Corp. et. al. v. United States, Docket No. 1:18-cv-01500-LKG (Fed. Claims) (pending). Represent taxpayer in interest-netting refund suit for overpayment and underpayment interest.
- United States v. Zak, et. al., Docket No. 1:18-CV-05774 (N.D. GA) (2021). Lead counsel for taxpayer in lawsuit involving use of partnerships in connection with the charitable contribution of conservation easements. Secured dismissal of one count in the Complaint against Ms. Zak on an issue of first impression and obtained favorable settlement with respect to all other issues.
- Herrmann et. al. v. United States, 1:14-cv-00941 (Fed. Cl. 2017). Lead Counsel for taxpayer in six day trial before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in refund suit involving foreign tax credits. Obtained full refund for taxpayer in the first case to interpret and apply tax code section 707(a)(2)(A). Identified by Law360 as one of the top federal tax decisions of the year.
- GlaxoSmithKline v. Commissioner, U.S. Tax Court Docket Nos. 5750-04 and 6959-05. Member of litigation team in case involving U.S. sales of pharmaceutical products and section 482 of the Internal Revenue Code (transfer pricing). At the time, it was the largest single tax case in U.S. history. Case settled before trial.
- United States v. ITS Financial, et al., 112 A.F.T.R.2d 6757 (S.D. Ohio 2013). Lead counsel for government in two week trial against the fourth-largest tax preparation company in the United States, ITS Financial (dba Instant Tax Service), its owner and related entities. Obtained verdict for the United States against all defendants. Also litigated simultaneous, nationwide actions against five of ITS Financial’s largest franchisees and certain key employees. United States v. Franklin, et al., 1:12-cv-00394 (S.D. Ind.); United States v. Tewolde, et al., 2:12-cv-00516 (D. Nev.); United States v. Ghebremichael, et al., 1:12-cv-02282 (N.D. Ill.); United States v. Goitom, et al., 2:12-cv-02183 (D. Kan.); and United States v. Teferi, et al., 13-cv-1052 (C.D. Cal.).
- Armagost v. United States, 07-cv-3240 (D. Neb.), and Raymond v. United States, 4:09-cv-00191 (D. Neb). Lead counsel for government in consolidated employment tax refund suits. Tried the case to a jury, which returned a verdict for the United States for all years at issue, for the full amount of the assessment.
- United States v. Cathcart, et al., 07-cv-4762 (N.D. Cal.). Lead counsel for government in injunction suit concerning the Derivium 90% loan tax shelter, a billion dollar Ponzi scheme involving thousands of transactions, hundreds of taxpayers and witnesses located in the United States, Lichtenstein, Isle of Man and Hong Kong. Obtained injunctions against nine defendants before proceeding to trial against the central tax shelter promoter and scheme developer, Charles Cathcart, who fully conceded following the first day of trial.
- Nagy v. United States, 2:08-cv-02555 (D.S.C.), and Debevc v. United States, 2:08-cv-02755 (D.S.C.). Lead counsel for government in consolidated I.R.C. section 6700 penalty refund suits. Tried the case to a jury, who returned a verdict in favor of the United States for all years at issue.
- Currier v. United States, 4:09-cv-1057 (E.D. Mo.). Lead counsel for government in an estate tax case concerning the proper taxation of decedent’s assets contributed to a family limited partnership, as well as the validity of the partnership. Case settled before trial.
- United States v. Rogers, et al., 1:10-cv-07068 (N.D. Ill.). Co-lead counsel for government in the first ever injunction action referred to DOJ by the Large Business and International (LB&I) Division of the IRS. Case concerned the promotion of Distressed Asset Debt (DAD), Distressed Asset Trust (DAT) and 743(f) tax shelters, which resulted in taxpayers claiming over $370 million in fictitious losses, and involved hundreds of taxpayers and witnesses located in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland. Full concession by all defendants.
- Currently represent large corporate taxpayer during audit and at IRS Appeals in research credit refund claim.
- Currently represent multinational taxpayer in the aerospace industry during IRS examination in research credit refund claim.
- Currently represent multinational retailer before IRS Appeals in matter involving worthless stock losses.
- Currently represent multinational bank in matter involving accounting method issues during IRS audit.
- Represented financial services entity during IRS examination in matter involving transfer pricing and bad debt deductions; obtained full concession (“no change”) from the IRS.
- Represented U.S. subsidiary in transfer pricing audit before the IRS; obtained full concession (“no change”) from the IRS.
- Represented taxpayers before IRS Appeals in matters involving transfer pricing issues, valuation, use of corporate aircraft and abandonment losses.
- Represented multinational bank in estate tax matter involving disposition of collateral valued at nearly $100 million dollars.
- Represented Big 4 accounting firm at trial in transfer pricing litigation before the U.S. Tax Court.
- Represented multinational company in federal tax audit in which the IRS initially denied millions of dollars in reoccurring business expense deductions; obtained full concession (“no change”) from the IRS.
- Represented multinational corporation before IRS Appeals in matter involving the deduction of merger expenses.
- Represent various clients in voluntary disclosures to the IRS and in connection with the IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure (OVD) program for offshore bank accounts.
- Represent Big 4 accounting firms and tax professionals in government investigations and in litigation alleging professional malpractice.
