International Criminal Defense
Practice areas experienced over 14 years of practicing law include individuals charged with numerous different kinds of felonies and misdemeanors in both state and federal courts. The criminal defense attorney needs a broad range of skills in order to get the best result for his or her client. Good trial skills along with a willing attitude to proceed to trial, if necessary, are indispensable in the criminal defense area. Lawyers with a track record of never going to trial are quickly found out by prosecutors and taken advantage of.

In some cases the ability of a criminal defense attorney to plan and communicate a consistent theme and an image of his client to the prosecutor has yielded the best results for the client. Good relations and persuasive skills with the prosecutor are necessary.

An effective criminal defense attorney needs the skills and persistence to investigate facts and to do the tedious work of legal research. In my past experience, criminal cases have been dismissed based on investigations that yield different facts, or facts uncovered that the prosecutor decides weakens their case. Other cases have been dismissed by legal research which challenges the legal sufficiency of the charging document such as an indictment or grand jury proceedings. Cases have been dismissed after arguments are heard in court in motion hearings. The common denominator of such dismissals is diligent legal research.

With international criminal defendants, the role of the international criminal defense attorney takes on added complexity. In federal district court, many of the criminal charges are linked to charges by the IRS that involve issues of underreporting of income, evasion of taxes, or failure to file tax returns. Foreigners in the United States either with a green card or in the US illegally may have criminal charges that will be linked to the INS. Foreigners may be surprised at the long reach of US law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and the DEA to investigate and gather evidence in their home countries. An important skill of the international criminal defense attorney is the ability to work with US law enforcement agencies at the investigation stage of a case in order to preclude, if at all possible, criminal charges.

US Tax
Practice areas include US international income and transfer taxation (US estate, gift, and generation-skipping taxes) for US citizens living abroad and for foreigners. Common issues include treaty interpretation, knowledge of tax exemptions, guidance on pre-immigration tax planning, and representation before the IRS.

Representation before the IRS may include negotiating with IRS collections or revenue agents, responding to a request for an audit, litigating or negotiating tax collections or levies, or defense of a tax evasion or tax fraud allegation in tax court.

US citizens living abroad may have tax compliance issues such as unfiled returns, or tax research issues with foreign business or entities. For those US citizens who have foreign spouses or foreign assets, international estate planning may be needed as well as advice on the international aspects of family law.

Foreigners who may have a business operations in the US may need legal research on key issues such as a US “trade or business” or “effectively connected” income. Complex tax rules exist whenever foreigners own US real estate. Tax compliance is typically an issue whenever US residency is attained or the foreigner has US sourced income or owns US real estate. Foreigners frequently need competent advice on international estate planning issues either if US residency is attained for transfer tax purposes or US situs assets are owned.

US Federal District Court
Whether in federal criminal court or litigating a federal civil case, we have the trial experience, investigation experience, and motion practice experience to give you high quality representation in federal district court.

US Transactional Law
For those foreigners who are seeking to form a business entity in the US (such as a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or joint venture), we will guide you through the choices in creating such an entity. Corporate governance, contracts, and other business matters are likely issues after the formation of an entity as well as the eventual dissolution of the entity.