New AAG of the DOJ Tax Division nominated

[Demosthenes]

Obama Nominates Mary L. Smith to Head DOJ Tax Division

President Obama yesterday nominated Mary L. Smith for Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice's Tax Division. From the press release:

Mary L. Smith currently is a Partner at Schoeman, Updike, Kaufman & Scharf, a women-owned firm. Smith specializes in complex litigation, regulatory practice, and government investigations. Earlier in her career, she served as Senior Litigation Counsel at Tyco International where she managed the securities class action multi-district litigation – one of the largest cases pending in the country. While at Tyco, Smith interacted with the tax department on a range of issues including employee benefits and more strategic issues involving litigation and the company’s corporate reorganization. Prior to Tyco, she was an attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Washington, D.C. Prior to her time at Skadden, Smith served in the Clinton White House as Associate Counsel to the President and Associate Director of Policy Planning where she was responsible for a number of policy areas including domestic violence, tax issues, equal pay, Internet gambling, Native American issues, and civil rights issues. She was the highest-ranking Native American in the White House during the Clinton Administration. From 1994-96, Smith served as a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice Civil Division. Smith graduated from the University of Chicago School of Law, cum laude, where she was a member of the Law Review. Smith clerked for the Hon. R. Lanier Anderson III of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She received a B.S., magna cum laude, from Loyola University of Chicago. Smith is a member of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession and a member of the Board of Managers for the Chicago Bar Association.

[Imalawman]

She looks like a very competent lawyer, great resume. However, I'm a bit leery of her lack of tax background. It really doesn't look like she's had more than a smattering of interaction with tax law. I would think you'd want an LLM in tax at the very least heading the TAX division. You know anything more about her?

[ASITStands]

It appears to me she was chosen for her diversity.

Native American woman, and a background to match.

Not only would you want experience in tax law in the TAX division but criminal. (I'd think.)

I guess if you're a Native American woman with experience in women's rights, you're in.

Oh! Did I mention she graduated from Loyola University in Chicago and a member of the Chicago Bar Association? That's real diversity for you. Sounds more like hometown politics.

I guess I'm 'grumpy' today.

[LPC]

She looks like a very competent lawyer, great resume. However, I'm a bit leery of her lack of tax background. It really doesn't look like she's had more than a smattering of interaction with tax law. I would think you'd want an LLM in tax at the very least heading the TAX division.

I disagree. At that level, and in the Department of Justice (not Treasury), you want someone with good management skills who understands litigation. She's not going to be writing briefs and she's not going to be making tax policy, and she has subordinates (and lawyers in Treasury) to tell her what she needs to know about tax law.

This is based on my assumption that the role of the Tax Division of the Department of Justice is to carry out the tax policies of the Department of Treasury, and not establish any tax policies themselves, beyond what is needed to manage litigation and allocate resources.

[ASITStands]

This is based on my assumption that the role of the Tax Division of the Department of Justice is to carry out the tax policies of the Department of Treasury, and not establish any tax policies themselves, beyond what is needed to manage litigation and allocate resources.

That's probably correct. The most valuable talent is case management.

[Judge Roy Bean]

IMHO the most pressing needs are an advanced degree in public relations with minors in cat wrangling and child rearing.

[Paul]

She's probably the first one they found with a clean tax record. I wonder how far down on the list she was?

[Gregg]

She looks like a very competent lawyer, great resume. However, I'm a bit leery of her lack of tax background. It really doesn't look like she's had more than a smattering of interaction with tax law. I would think you'd want an LLM in tax at the very least heading the TAX division. You know anything more about her?

I'm not so sure its a bad thing, it's not like she's going to try cases and if she needs backup on law I'm sure she has competent non-political staff to hold her hand. It's a management job, and political on top of that....I imagine the sun will still rise in the east tomorrow.

[Imalawman]

She looks like a very competent lawyer, great resume. However, I'm a bit leery of her lack of tax background. It really doesn't look like she's had more than a smattering of interaction with tax law. I would think you'd want an LLM in tax at the very least heading the TAX division. You know anything more about her?

I'm not so sure its a bad thing, it's not like she's going to try cases and if she needs backup on law I'm sure she has competent non-political staff to hold her hand. It's a management job, and political on top of that....I imagine the sun will still rise in the east tomorrow.

But I think that's a fundamental flaw of the modern government. Come on, she'll be in charge of the tax division of the DOJ and you're telling me that there's no need to have any background whatsoever in tax? Sorry, I don't buy it. You need management skills for sure, but you need substantive knowledge of the subject of law you are going to be overseeing. IMNSHO, I think its amazingly absurd to suggest that no knowledge of tax law should be required. It might be the "way things work" in Washington, but I submit that's why so many divisions and department are largely incompetent.

[Gregg]

But is it really fair to say "any background whatsoever in tax" ? She's not making tax policy, she's managing people who litigate tax cases on behalf of the Treasury. Or at least that's what I understand, I'm not a lawyer and haven't even been an accountant in over 10 years...
Maybe I'm under rating what experience she does have. Is that it, does what her resume say add up to bupkis, cause honestly I don't know.

Would it be better to have someone who has spent 10 years one level below this post or maybe teaching tax law for a few years, maybe someone from FASB who's been tinkering tax in a dark corner of the basement for half their life? Maybe, or at least possibly if your chief criteria is tax expertise. But the reality is it's a political appointment and in some ways it's more important that she's a minority woman, too. Hell, for that matter the President has never had a job in business in his life that I can recall, but he looks like he wants to run GM to some of us.. (of course, he can in that case at least argue "look what letting car guys run car companies has gotten us )

[Nikki]

Ms. Smith is going to be working in the rarified atmosphere of senior political appointmees.

Her most significant responsibilities will be (1) interpreting directives / directions from the Attorney General and passing the resultant information, as it pertains to tax enforcement and litigation, to her subordinates, (2) working with people outside DoJ, such as the Commissioner and Chief Counsel of the IRS regarding specific enforcement actions to be taken, and (3) responding to the verious interrogatories she will be receiving from the congresscritters ten blocks to the east.

An excellent comparison to her experience regarding her position is a recent IRS Commissioner. A gentleman was appointed to that position with absolutely no qualifications except for having successfully managed a major business for many years. He applied that experience to managing the IRS and relied on his subordinates for their expertise in tax law, procedures, and so on.

Ms. Smith should be a success if she gives the appropriate authority to the experienced people who report to her and just concentrates on (1) insulating them from the various pressures which distract them from doing their jobs and (2) giving them adequate resources to prosecute the significant cases whith the IRS refers to DoJ.

[Imalawman]

I think I know what the job requires, but thanks anyway. I know it's Washington as usual to have a political job at the head of a department - but my point is that it shouldn't be that way. I'm disappointed that, once again, we've delegated the real management of a department to lower levels because she won't know the substantive law. Its a bad way to run things and it is the reason that government is not running as efficiently as possible. Think about it, she won't know what to litigate and what not to. Those decisions will be made for her - i.e. the essential elements of the job will not performed by her. She will only be a contact - someone that handles the politics of the situation. Yes, that is what is done, but its not the way it should be.

Now, its a moot point if she really does have some background in tax, but it sure doesn't look it.

[Demosthenes]

I find it shocking that she has nether a tax nor a criminal prosecutorial background. Compare her resume to Nathan Hochman's. Holy Moly.

This is what the Tax Division AAG should look like:

FORMER ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

NATHAN J. HOCHMAN

Nathan J. Hochman was nominated by President George W. Bush on Nov. 15, 2007, to be the Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice's Tax Division. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Dec.19, 2007, and started on January 22, 2008.

As Assistant Attorney General, Mr. Hochman is in charge of leading the Tax Division's mission to enforce the nation's tax laws fully, fairly and consistently, through both criminal and civil litigation, in order to promote compliance with the tax laws and maintain confidence in the integrity of the tax system.

Prior to joining the Justice Department, Mr. Hochman was a principal at Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez, in Beverly Hills, California, for 11 years, where he specialized in representing individuals and organizations in tax controversies, tax litigation, federal and state white collar criminal investigations, and complex civil matters.

From 1990-1997, Mr. Hochman worked for the Justice Department as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California. There, he prosecuted over 180 cases in the public corruption and government fraud section, ranging from tax violations, bank fraud, loan fraud, money laundering, and bribery to government program fraud, customs fraud, environmental crimes, arson, narcotics trafficking, bank robbery, alien smuggling, and perjury. Mr. Hochman tried over 20 jury trials and argued more than 20 appeals before the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

At the United States Attorney's Office, Mr. Hochman served as the U.S. Attorney's Office's Environmental Crimes Coordinator for almost two years and then spearheaded the Los Angeles Disaster Fraud Task Force. That Task Force was created after the January 1994 Northridge earthquake and included more than 40 law enforcement agents from 10 different federal and state agencies. Through his leadership and work at the Task Force, Mr. Hochman convicted more than 70 individuals for defrauding federal disaster assistance programs and recovered more than $16 million. In recognition of his achievements, Mr. Hochman received numerous awards, including the Justice Department's Director's Award for Superior Performance, the Inspector General's Award of Excellence, and the Federal Bar Association's Young Federal Lawyer Award.

Mr. Hochman received his Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Brown University, where he was Phi Beta Kappa. Thereafter, he earned his Juris Doctor degree with distinction at Stanford Law School. Following law school, Mr. Hochman clerked for United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson of the Central District of California.

[Imalawman]

I find it shocking that she has nether a tax nor a criminal prosecutorial background. Compare her resume to Nathan Hochman's.

Thank you Demo. I'm glad I am not the only one appalled by this appointment.

[Gregg]

I find it shocking that she has nether a tax nor a criminal prosecutorial background. Compare her resume to Nathan Hochman's.

Thank you Demo. I'm glad I am not the only one appalled by this appointment.

Okay, I give up. Or more correctly I admit I don't know enough to have an informed opinion compared to those who are so distressed by this. Obviously your expertise gives you better insight than me. (and I'm not being at all sarcastic, you're right and I was wrong)

[Paul]

This is what the Tax Division AAG should look like:

[snip]Thereafter, he earned his Juris Doctor degree with distinction at Stanford Law School.

Demo finally sees the light!

[Imalawman]

Okay, I give up. Or more correctly I admit I don't know enough to have an informed opinion compared to those who are so distressed by this. Obviously your expertise gives you better insight than me. (and I'm not being at all sarcastic, you're right and I was wrong)

When you have clients that might be pursued by the DOJ, you tend to take this appointment seriously. Obviously, I prefer someone that has a very intimate knowledge of the substantive law to run the department. We're not talking about the head of the DOJ - we're talking about the head of a very specialized department. A department with which many of us here have somewhat frequent contact. Its important who is setting the policies of litigation for tax matters for the DOJ, if you're practicing in tax.

[grixit]

I think it's really important that the appointee has experience both prosecuting and defending.

[Imalawman]

Just as an addendum to this thread - I talked with someone on the "inside" and they said that it was a bit of a surprise that she really did not have an extensive background, but that she is very good at litigation. So, there might a bit of learning curve with getting up to speed on the background of the currently litigated cases, her litigation skills will prove to be helpful. I pity the person that has to learn the background and technical aspects of a SILO/LILO case....

[Gregg]

H & R Block is running the Justice Department tax Division now?