California State and Local Tax Practice

Bewley, Lassleben & Miller’s California state and local tax practice is respected throughout the United States. Joseph A. Vinatieri introduced this practice in the early 1980s, when he joined us after serving for several years as the Chief Deputy to Ernest Dronenburg, a member of the California State Board of Equalization. Mr. Vinatieri’s administrative practice, assisted by partner Jason C. DeMille, is unique among California law firms in its initial emphasis and success in resolving sales, property and franchise tax disputes at the audit or administrative appeal level. Mr. Vinatieri has achieved five published decisions before the elected State Board of Equalization, including the cases of Embassy Suites, Inc., Hewlett Packard Company, LifeCare Services, Inc., Rhodia, Inc. and Varian Associates.

Some tax disputes, however, cannot be resolved at the administrative level. When this occurs, Bewley, Lassleben & Miller has had great success in representing clients in the trial and appellate courts. In this regard, partner Jeffrey S. Baird has litigated extensively in each of the areas of use, sales, property, franchise and city business tax, serving as lead trial counsel in the cases of Union Oil v. City of Los Angeles (2000) 79 Cal. App. 4th 383, Hughes Aircraft Company v. the County of Orange (2002) 96 Cal. App. 4th 540, Chevron USA, Inc. v. State Board of Equalization (1997) 53 Cal. App. 4th 289, Yamaha v. State Board of Equalization (1998) 19 Cal 4th 1 and Gray v. Franchise Tax Board (1991) 235 Cal. App. 3d 36.

Also heavily involved in litigation of state and local tax disputes are Bewley, Lassleben & Miller partners Jason C. DeMille, Kevin P. Duthoy and Richard L. Dewberry, assisted by associate Michael J. Dewberry. Mr. Duthoy lent his extensive appellate expertise in cases including Chevron USA, Inc. v. State Board of Equalization and Hughes Aircraft Company v. County of Orange. Mr. Dewberry is presently focusing on litigation in such areas as state income tax domicile, property tax and local transient occupancy tax.

With the constant pressure on state and local government entities to raise revenues, and new and unique factual and legal issues arising daily, Bewley, Lassleben & Miller stands prepared to effectively meet your California state and local taxation needs.

Representative Clients: Costco Wholesale, Federated Department Stores, Northrop Grumman, Hilton Hotels Corporation and Raytheon Company.