Experienced attorney successfully serving clients concerning international taxation, tax treaties, expatriation, civil tax controversies, criminal tax prosecutions; marital agreements, and estate planning and administration.Leading practitioner in helping Americans comply with United States laws concerning foreign income, financial accounts, and entities.  Author.
I have strong litigation skills—research, writing, oral advocacy. I guide my clients away from the trauma and cost of litigation.

Education

 B.S.B.A. cum laude, Accounting, Aquinas College, Grand Rapids, Michigan (1978).

C.P.A., Michigan (1980), currently licensesed.

J.D., Notre Dame Law School, Notre Dame, Indiana (1985).

Staff Member and Associate Editor, Notre Dame Law Review.

 LL.M. (Taxation), Washington University in St. Louis (1991).

Professional Practice

 I began my career as an undergraduate preparing income tax returns for BDO in Grand Rapids.  Upon earning my bachelor’s degree, I joined the Grand Rapids office of Ernst & Young.  I served on the largest audits of the Grand Rapids office.

In 1982 I matriculated at Notre Dame Law School.  In law school, I served on the Notre Dame Law Review, and worked for a South Bend, Indiana  law firm.  I clerked for a large law firm in Grand Rapids, Michigan and joined upon graduating from law school in 1985.

In 1987 I moved to a large law firm  in St. Louis, Missouri.  While in St. Louis I earned  on my LL.M. (Taxation) from Washington University in St. Louis.

In 1991 I returned to my native Michigan, where I have lived and practiced law since.

In 2011 I founded my present firm, Dunn Counsel PLC.  I am a leading practitioner helping United States citizen and residents, including green card holders, comply with U.S. laws concerning foreign income, accounts, and entities.  I have handled hundreds of such cases.  I help U.S. persons expatriate, by renouncing citizenship or abandoning lawful permanent resident status.  I advise on U.S. taxation of expatriation.  I advise U.S. companies on U.S. taxation of their foreign operations, and  foreign companies on U.S. taxation of their U.S. operations.  I am expert in analysis and application of U.S. bilateral income tax treaties. I perform voluntary disclosures for taxpayers,  including those under the Streamlined Compliance Procedures, for residents as well as for nonresidents of the United States, and the Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures.  I perform estate planning and am expert in Federal estate and gift tax.

I am a member of the American Bar Association and its Sections of Tax Law and Real Property, Trust & Estate Law

I am a member of the State Bar of Michigan and its Sections of Probate and Estate Planning, Business Law, and Elder Law and Disability Rights.  I actively participate in the Probate and Estate Planning Section’s Uniform Power of Appointment Act Committee.

I am a member of the Oakland County Bar Association and actively participate in its Business Court & Counsel Committee and its Taxation Committee.

I am a member of the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants and actively participate in its International Tax Task Force.

I have taught on my areas of practice, at The University of Michigan-Dearborn and at Michigan State University College of Law.  I may teach again.

I love to write.  I believe that writing for publication is important in developing expertise and disseminating it.  I write two blogs, Personal Financial Counsel and Foreign Accounts Compliance.  I also blog for Newsmax.  I have blogged for Forbes.  I have written a Thomson Reuters treatise, Foreign Accounts Compliance, which I plan to revise and republish. I am writing a retrospective on law and life, which could be used as a text for a law school professional responsibility course.  I also have in mind a casebook on tax practice and procedure.

I love to speak publicly.  In 2018 I co-presented on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for the American Bar Association.  In 2019 I presented on Foreign Accounts Compliance and International Information Returns for the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants.  In January, 2020 I co-presented U.S. Tax Reporting of Foreign Retirement Accounts and Other Foreign Trusts for Strafford Publishing.  In September, 2020 I presented Foreign Accounts Compliance Update for Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants.  On February 25, 2021, I presented on Tax Issues in Litigation and Settlements as part of a Financial Issues in Litigation webinar for the Oakland County Bar Association.  On June 1, 2021, I will co-present on Form 8865: Reporting Foreign Partnership Interests for Strafford Publishing.  U.S. taxation On June 22, 2021, I will co-present Foreign Accounts Compliance Update for the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants.

I am a member of the Thomson Reuters Checkpoint (tax research) Advisory Council.

 My Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating is AV (preeminent).  I have twice received the Avvo Clients’ Choice award for outstanding service to clients.

 

Personal Life
My wife, Geri, and I have three children and 13 grandchildren.

I am in charge of lectors and eucharistic ministers at my parish.

I am an avid fan of Notre Dame football, the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit Lions, and the Detroit Red Wings.

I run 14.5 miles every weekend.

My avocations are Anglo-Irish relations and British ecclesiastical history.  My favorite book that I have read recently is Waugh, St. Edmund Campion: Priest and Martyr (1935).  My favorite movie that I have seen recently is A Man for All Seasons (1966).

I was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

April 29, 2021