Passaic County ChapterAnnual Tax Seminar (E1711819)

Patrick J. Deo, CPA, Cr.Fa, is president of Deo, LaManna, Deo & Co., P.C. A noted national speaker, he was recognized by Surgent CPE as a 2016 Outstanding Discussion Leader. He also authored and co-authored various technical books and articles. He is experienced in business valuations, litigation support, forensic accounting, tax planning, resolving tax disputes and more.

Mr. Deo has been a member of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJCPA) for more than 30 years. A frequent speaker and lecturer for the NJCPA and its chapters, he was honored with the NJCPA Outstanding Discussion Leader Award. Additionally, he has served the NJCPA and its chapters in many leadership roles and has been involved in various NJCPA initiatives, including establishing the Morris/Sussex Chapter County College Scholarship Program, spearheading the New Jersey Taxpayer Bill of Rights, developing the cornerstone for the Internal Revenue Service and State of New Jersey “Practitioner Hotline”, instituting the NJCPA lesion meetings with the State of New Jersey Department of Labor, heading up the task force on “piggy-back” of the New Jersey Gross Income Tax on the Internal Revenue Service Tax System, and serving as a “key person” to legislators.

Mr. Deo is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the AICPA Tax Division, AICPA Forensic Valuation Division, and the Institute of Business Appraisers. He is also a certified forensic accountant and diplomat of the American College of Forensic Examiners.

Prior to becoming a certified public accountant, Mr. Deo worked for the Internal Revenue Service for almost 20 years in various high level positions and received numerous recognitions for outstanding service.

Todd E. Duffy, Esq. is a partner at DuffyAmedeo LLP in New York City. Throughout his career, he has represented debtors, creditors (secured and unsecured), creditor committees, ad hoc committees, as well as commercial plaintiffs and defendants. He has also served as trustee to a post-bankruptcy liquidation trust and has represented foreign bank interests in the American courts.

Prior to founding the firm, Todd clerked for Chief Judge Stephen D. Gerling of the Northern District of New York Bankruptcy Court. After his clerkship, Todd was associated with several large Manhattan firms and participated in many of the largest and most complex bankruptcy cases in the last twenty years. Past Chair of the Bankruptcy Committee of the New York County Lawyers’ Association, Todd was Chair of the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group and a Shareholder of Anderson Kill & Olick, P.C. immediately prior to co-founding DuffyAmedeo LLP.

Todd is admitted to practice before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, State and Federal Courts of New York and New Jersey.

Mr. Duffy attended St. John's University School of Law.

Robert G. Jeffrey, CPA, is an active member of the NJCPA, where he has served on both the Cooperation with the IRS Committee and the State Taxation Committee for more than a decade. He has been active on the NJCPA Chapter Operations Committee and has served as vice president, treasurer and secretary of the Passaic County Chapter. Mr. Jeffrey earned his undergraduate degree in business administration from Pace University and holds an M.B.A. degree from New York University.

John Kelly, CPA owner of John D. Kelly, CPA LLC, Trenton, New Jersey. Before opening his own firm, Mr. Kelly served as Chief of the New Jersey Division of Taxation’s Office of Legislative Analysis and Disclosure, reviewing pending legislation to determine its impact on state tax law and the operations of the Division of Taxation, ensuring compliance with the Open Public Records Act and New Jersey’s tax confidentiality laws. Under his direction, that office also performed ministerial processing functions for several state tax credit and incentive programs and helped to produce the State Tax Expenditure Report.

Mr. Kelly John is a frequent lecturer.This experience includes both volunteer groups and professional associations. Mr. Kelly is a graduate of Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. He received his Master’s in Business Administration from Rider University. He received a Masters in Accounting and Financial Management from Keller Graduate School of Management. Mr. Kelly is a member of the NJCPA.

As an associate in the Tax, Trusts, & Estates Department of Cole Schotz P.C., Reuben represents clients at all stages of disputes with the Internal Revenue Service, the New Jersey Division of Taxation, and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance including audits, administrative appeals and tax litigation.  Since 2009, Reuben has concentrated on the representation of individuals, estates, and other entities which seek to benefit from the Internal Revenue Service's offshore voluntary disclosure initiatives to minimize civil penalties and avoid criminal prosecution for undeclared foreign assets.

Reuben's practice also includes representing clients who seek to address their outstanding liabilities for unpaid taxes and their failures to timely file accurate returns.

Before joining the firm Reuben litigated tax disputes with a boutique tax controversy law firm in Bergen County.  Reuben has experience in defending complex multi-generational estate and gift tax audits, as well as defending high-value charitable contribution deductions.

Reuben earned his B.A. from Yeshiva University in 2001, earned his Juris Doctor from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2007 and his LL.M. in Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2014.

Brittany Pickell is director of Marketing and Sales at Next Generation Services. She applies her extensive experience in direct sales, marketing and customer relationship management at Next Generation. In her role, she develops and oversees the implementation of our marketing strategy across all media and works with our team to support sales initiatives.

Brittany’s accomplishments throughout the years include designing and executing lead generation strategies across multiple channels, developing and nurturing multi-million dollar sales pipelines, enhancing digital marketing outreach, conducting market and competitive analyses, training sales personnel and improving internal processes to support sales. Prior to joining Next Generation, Brittany held positions at Convergent Revenue Cycle Management, Inc., and Altria Group Distribution Company (formerly Philip Morris USA).

Brittany holds a B.S. in marketing and business management from Boston College and is a certified revenue cycle representative (CRCR) in the healthcare field. She has been a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) since 2011 and currently serves as a Board Director.

Geoffrey Weinstein, J.D., LL.M. is an attorney at Cole Schotz in Hackensack, New Jersey. As special counsel in the Tax, Trusts & Estates Department, he counsels those with business and personal interests in the greater New York City metropolitan area and South Florida. He is known as a creative advisor and problem-solver who assists in developing tax planning strategies that preserve wealth and a dedicated advocate who resolves tax controversies.

Geoff advises on estate planning that involves wills, trusts, powers of attorney and healthcare directives. Following a death, he advises on estate administration and probate litigation. For businesses and individuals, he advises on taxation of executive compensation, including stock option incentives and nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements. He also reviews executive employment and severance agreements for Section 409A compliance.

When tax controversies arise, Geoff represents taxpayers before federal, state and local tax authorities at all stages of the administrative process, from audit through administrative appeal. He has discretely handled numerous high-net worth residency cases in New Jersey and New York, consistently netting favorable results through confidential closing agreements that avoid the publicity of litigation. In addition, Geoff works closely with other members of the Cole Schotz team to resolve sales and use and corporate business tax audits with state tax authorities.

In cases where taxpayers neglected to file tax or information returns, or have compliance issues involving offshore bank accounts and other assets, Geoff has achieved positive results through participation in federal and state voluntary disclosure programs and procedures.

Geoff also represents taxpayers in sensitive “egg shell” tax audits that include exposure to possible criminal charges and/or civil fraud penalties. He has represented U.S. and non-U.S. resident taxpayers from around the world, including Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and India. For those matters that require litigation, Geoff has prosecuted many cases to successful conclusion.

Before joining the firm he litigated tax and commercial disputes with a boutique law firm in Bergen County and was a former Deputy Attorney General with the State of New Jersey’s Division of Criminal Justice. He received his B.S. from Northeastern University, his J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law-Camden and his LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Bill Wittler is a Transaction Manager at Next Generation Services. He applies his experience in property appraisals and cash management to his support role for transactions and account billing. Bill’s background includes research and appraisals for a real estate appraisal firm in northern New Jersey and extensive customer service, bookkeeping, and cash management responsibilities for a high-end regional grocery chain. He says that the attention to detail and experience with real estate and customer service in prior jobs are serving him well at Next Generation Services.

Bill is also a certified paralegal with training in a broad range of legal specialties, and he has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Rutgers University—great qualifications when it comes to monitoring IRS compliance issues.