Blank Rome hires 5 new tax lawyers in New York
Blank Rome LLP has welcomed five new attorneys to the Firm’s Tax, Benefits, and Private Client group in the New York office: Senior Counsel Irwin M. Slomka; Of Counsel Matthew F. Cammarata, Eugene J. Gibilaro, and Kara M. Kraman; and Senior Attorney Michael A. Pearl. The leading group joins from Morrison & Foerster LLP and adds to the Firm’s growing Nationwide State and Local Tax practice, which recently expanded with the addition of prominent partners Craig B. Fields, Holly L. Hyans, Nicole L. Johnson, and Mitchell A. Newmark to enhance the Firm’s capabilities to litigate state and local tax matters and counsel clients on state and local tax planning throughout the country.
“We are thrilled to welcome Irwin, Matthew, Eugene, Kara, and Michael to our growing Tax group and Nationwide State and Local Tax practice,” said Craig B. Fields, Partner and Co-Chair of the Tax, Benefits, and Private Client group. “Working together once more, we look forward to expanding Blank Rome’s national tax platform and capabilities as we strategically counsel clients on their tax concerns. We are also collaborating with our talented colleagues across the Firm’s offices and practices to support our clients at the highest level, and are excited to get the new members of the team integrated into this great culture.”
The new counsel team has significant experience handling state and local tax controversies at the audit, administrative, and judicial levels in New York and throughout the United States. They are well versed in the full spectrum of tax concerns for corporate and pass-through entities as well as individuals in their related business transactions, notably in the areas of state and local income and franchise taxes, sales and use taxes, bank and financial institution taxes, corporate income taxes, insurance taxes, fraud, personal income taxes, real estate transfer taxes, utility taxes, and unclaimed property. The team is also highly skilled in handling tax litigation matters across numerous industries, such as banking, healthcare, telecommunications, retail, and manufacturing.
Irwin serves as the co-chair of the New York City Taxes Committee for the Tax Section of the New York State Bar Association, and is a member of the Tax Section’s Executive Committee. He regularly speaks before the New York State Bar Association Tax Section, the Council On State Taxation, the Tax Executives Institute, the Institute of International Bankers, and the Committee on Banking Institutions. His articles have been published in such publications as Law360, the Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives, and the Real Estate Finance Journal. He has also been the principal author of several reports issued by the New York State Bar Association Tax Section. Irwin received his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and his B.A. from Queens College. Prior to going into private practice, Irwin served as deputy commissioner and general counsel for the New York City Department of Finance.
Matthew has litigated many complex tax controversy cases, prior to entering private practice, on behalf of the Massachusetts Commissioner of Revenue during his tenure at the Litigation Bureau of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. He frequently writes and speaks on various state and local tax issues for leading industry and legal publications, organizations, and associations. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association and serves on the Editorial Committee for the Institute for Professionals in Taxation. Matthew received his J.D. from Boston College Law School and his B.A. from Boston College.
Eugene is well versed in state and local tax matters and has been published in TEI Magazine, State Tax Notes, Law360, and the Journal of State Taxation. During law school, he served as a senior editor of the New York Law School Law Review and as a judicial extern for the Honorable Chief Judge Arthur Gonzalez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York. Prior to serving as an attorney at Am Law 100 firms, he worked at one of the big four accounting firms where he advised private equity and corporate clients on tax matters in a variety of industries. He received his LL.M. from New York University School of Law; his J.D., summa cum laude, from New York Law School; and his B.A. from The George Washington University.
Kara frequently writes on state and local tax topics and has been published in leading media outlets such as Forbes, State Tax Notes, and Tax Law360. She is also a contributing author of the treatise Tax Planning for Corporations and Shareholders, published by LexisNexis. She received her LL.M. from New York University School of Law, her J.D. from The College of William & Mary, and her B.A. from Georgetown University.
Michael previously provided state and local tax consulting services for two major accounting firms prior to joining private practice, and served as in-house state tax counsel for J.C. Penney Company. He also previously served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia, West Africa, where he assisted the legal counsel of the Department of Planning and Economic Affairs and lectured at the University of Liberia Law School. Michael received his LL.M. from New York University School of Law, his J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law, and his B.A. from City College of New York.