by Monica Chamness
Staff Writer
Tax law, like many areas of the legal profession, covers a variety of subjects. On the federal level, there are income, excise, gift and estate taxes. State sales tax and usage taxes fall under the umbrella of tax law as well.
To help tame the paper tiger, the Tax Law Section of The Jacksonville Bar Association was organized. Because of the ever-changing nature of tax laws, attorneys outside of the specialty occasionally need some coaching.
“Our purpose at the end of each year is to present information to the whole bar to keep everybody abreast,” said section chair David Peek of Peek, Cobb, Edwards & Ashton.
The last instructional session the section held was a seminar on tax legislation. Because there has not been any major tax legislation passed recently, the group does not anticipate sponsoring a seminar this year.
“I have talked to Mike Fisher [of Fisher, Tousey, Leas & Ball] in the past about a joint seminar,” said Peek. “President [George W.] Bush has talked about major legislation but it has not happened yet.”
Peek does believe the bill will pass but he doesn’t see the need to disseminate any information before then.
The Tax Law Section is fairly insulated from the rest of the lawyers as there is little crossover. It was created so that the sections of the bar would mirror the Federal Bar Association’s committees.
“Because we’re so specialized, most lawyers would not have an interest in what we do,” explained Peek. “What I do is not very interesting to a trial lawyer, a corporate lawyer or a real estate lawyer.”
In fact, the section members don’t even conduct regular meetings. At roughly a dozen members, the section is the smallest of all JBA sections. If they do need to discuss specific topics, they will do so by teleconference. Most interaction between members is an informal sharing of professional opinions.
“We use the Section to bounce ideas off those who practice tax law,” said Peek. “If you run into a problem and need to come up with a solution, it’s nice to have another ear to hear your thoughts and give feedback. In big firms you’ve got people in your department, but if you’re solo, you look to your peers.”