Here are the three primary qualities that a taxpayer, expecting or involved in a dispute with the IRS or U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) tax authorities, should seek out when hiring a tax-dispute lawyer:

A Long Record of First-Chair, Top-Tier Accomplishment — Preferably Forged in the Federal-Court “Crucible” and National in Scope.

Judgment Seasoned by Many Years Representing the IRS. 

Integrity- and Expertise-Based Credibility with IRS and U.S. DOJ Tax Authorities, and with Federal Courts.

And if the tax dispute has possible criminal overtones, a fourth quality is key as well:    Criminal-Tax Experience as a Federal Prosecutor.  

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Having represented the IRS during the first half of his tax career, and having represented a plethora of blue-chip corporate, non-profit, and individual taxpayers during the second half …

Having first-chaired a vast array of complex and mega-dollar civil federal tax cases from coast-to-coast for 40 years at the very highest reaches of the tax profession …

Having written and filed hundreds of briefs in tax cases in federal courts, having tried over 20 cases to a jury verdict, and having argued 15 cases to federal courts of appeals …

Having been a federal prosecutor, with criminal tax and non-tax jury-trial experience …

Having been promoted twice into ascending, competitive-service supervisory positions (GM-15) with the Tax Division of U.S. DOJ in DC, and  having been a Tax partner or shareholder in the Chicago offices of two of the nation’s largest and most prestigious private law firms …

Having demonstrated both a nimble intellect and thought leadership by publishing extensively in premier national tax and non-tax publications, across four different decades (1980s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s) …

Having practiced for 18 years each in the “tax vortices” of DC and Chicago, first-chairing cases worth $3 to $4 billion — and now, since 2019, practicing federal tax law from Redmond/Bellevue, WA …

Having received many coveted, formal awards from his lawyer peers in both DC and Chicago, across five different decades (i.e., 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s) … and 

Holding a J.D. degree from a Big Ten, first-tier law school —

Thomas D. Sykes may be your best choice to efficiently and effectively resolve your dispute with the IRS.  He is not a divorce, bankruptcy, real estate, or general-practice lawyer who dabbles in tax as needed; rather, he is a lawyer at the top of his profession who has focused strictly upon federal and state tax disputes for the last 40 years.  He will personally handle your dispute, and not hand some or all of it off to a junior partner, an associate, or a paralegal.  His no-frills, quick-study, result-focused, “boutique” law firm offers judgment-informed solutions from energetic Redmond, WA — and emphatically not from Florida, Texas, California, or Michigan.  What can this responsive, nationally validated, senior member of the tax-dispute bar do for you?

Tom invites you to peruse this data-rich website (including its seven drop-down pages, its four click-on badges, and several testimonials) for uncommonly specific disclosures about Tom’s nationwide federal tax-dispute practice, and about his phenomenal, sui generis legal and tax career.  Then maybe use this web page as a checklist for comparisons, and ask . . .

What Other Tax-Dispute Lawyer Offers This to a Taxpayer Needing Smart and Efficient Solutions?