Law Office of James Hastings PC

$18.5M tax concession, U.S. Tax Court

Represented the taxpayer in an innocent spouse claim before the U.S. Tax Court. The IRS Office of Chief Counsel conceded, and the case was dismissed with prejudice, eliminating $18.5M of income tax liabilities, penalties and interest. Pareto Media, Inc., et al. v. Commissioner (Consolidated)

$1M estate penalty and refund, IRS Independent Office of Appeals

Engaged to contest late payment penalties assessed to a multimillion-dollar estate, arguing that the tax should be abated due to the client's reasonable reliance on the advice of a tax professional. Successfully petitioned the IRS to remove the penalties and refund more than $1M of excess payments.

Accountant's professional negligence, San Francisco Superior Court

Represented the plaintiff in a tax preparer malpractice claim and ten other causes of action related to negligent performance of tax services in connection with delinquent IRS payroll tax and responsible person Trust Fund Recovery Penalties. The case settled for an 11.4x multiplier of the proved special damages. Durham v. Jeffrey Johnston, Game On IRS! (2022)

Accountant's professional negligence, San Francisco Superior Court

Represented the plaintiff in a tax preparer negligence suit related to negligently prepared amended tax returns claiming false or incorrect income tax deductions, creating large tax refunds. The amended returns were reversed in audit, resulting in repayment of the prior income tax refunds created by the false deductions, late payment and accuracy penalties. Recovered a 7.5x multiplier of the proved special damages. Calef v. Jeffrey Johnston, Game On IRS! (2016)

Accountant's professional negligence, San Francisco Superior Court

Represented the personal representative and sole beneficiary who engaged the decedent's CPA to prepare the estate tax return. Identified several significant errors and referred the case to a plaintiff's attorney. Served as both an expert litigation consultant and a fact witness to the litigation and the client recovered the maximum value of the claim.

High-net-worth international estate planning, charitable trusts, Alameda County, CA

Advised the decedent on international estate planning and later represented the successor trustee in administering a multi-jurisdictional international estate; created and implemented tax-advantaged strategies to eliminate $95M in federal estate tax while preserving long-term governance, compliance, and charitable objectives.

Multi-generational transfer, appreciated real property, San Francisco County, CA

Represented the beneficiaries of an estate in the transfer of a $16M property into subsidiary trusts and used non-taxable transactions and partial disclaimers to structure a tax-advantaged, multi-generational transfer while preserving the original property tax basis.

High-net-worth estate planning, conservation easement, Monterey County, CA

Represented the surviving spouse with restructuring investment real estate holdings; prepared supplementary post-mortem estate planning to preserve original property tax basis and avoid capital gain tax of more than $6M through fractional ownership and conservation easement discounts.

Shareholder dispute, breach of fiduciary duty, San Francisco Superior Court

The majority member of a limited liability company tendered an offer to purchase the minority interest. The minority interest holder countered with a suit alleging breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract, among other claims. Represented the majority member in litigation, ultimately resulting in a settlement agreement to purchase the minority interest for less than the original buyout offer. McNally v. Symbiosystems, LLC, et al.

Litigation consulting, taxation of settlement proceeds, San Francisco Superior Court

Assisted litigation counsel with the pleading, discovery and settlement negotiations to ensure the settlement proceeds were non-taxable to the plaintiff, resulting in more than $1M of income tax saved.