Highly regarded tax boutique Kostelanetz LLP fields a team of ‘superstar lawyers’ with coverage of both civil and criminal tax matters. The firm acts on behalf of a diverse client base of prominent businesses and individuals facing high-profile administrative and judicial proceedings both domestically and abroad. New York lawyer Bryan Skarlatos co-leads the department with ’gold standard’ practitioner Caroline Ciraolo, who is based in Washington DC. Skarlatos, who has more than 35 years’ experience in the practice area, covers all aspects of audits, appeals, and litigation and is also noted for his expertise in criminal matters. Ciraolo primarily focuses on civil tax disputes, with experience in both federal and SALT matters. Megan Brackney and Sharon McCarthy, both based in New York, are key names in the practice, with Brackney chiefly handling in audits, while McCarthy is noted for her work in relation to tax investigations. Other names to note in New York include litigator Christopher Ferguson and Michael Sardar, who primarily counsels high net worth individuals on various tax issues. DC lawyer Abigail Burke is a key name.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Kostelanetz has multiple superstar lawyers, both in New York and DC. When I am looking for counsel to represent a related party in a matter, Kostelanetz (Caroline Ciraolo in particular) is often my first choice. ’
‘Caroline Ciraolo is the gold standard. She has built the DC office of the firm from scratch, hiring extraordinary junior lawyers both from the public and private sector. She is one of the most thoughtful, insightful, dedicated, and compassionate counselors I know.’
Key clients
- Party City Holdco, Inc.
- First Hawaiian Bank
Work highlights
- Represented a number of U.S. pension plans in multi-district litigation against the Danish tax administration, Skatteforvaltningen, which has sued the clients for allegedly procuring refunds of withheld dividend tax by fraud.