Edward M. Burgh | Attorney

Edward M. Burgh

Attorney at Law

Certified Specialist, Taxation Law
Accredited Estate Planner
Certified Public Accountant
Fellow, Life Management Institute
Adjunct Professor of Law

Experience Summary

Edward M. Burgh has over thirty-five years of legal experience. During that period of time, he has concentrated on the areas of taxation, estate planning, civil litigation and appeals.

In the taxation area, he has represented individuals and businesses in IRS audits, appellate hearings and judicial cases. He has not only handled tax cases before the Tax Court but has represented clients on appeals before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and brought a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari before the United States Supreme Court. He has acted as an Expert Witness for the Internal Revenue Service in a criminal trial which resulted in a finding of guilty for one defendant and an 11 to 1 vote for conviction of the other. He has also represented individuals and businesses in tax transactional work. He has served as a tax advisor to other law firms, especially in the area of taxation of partnerships.

His level of taxation law expertise has been recognized by the California Board of Legal Specialization, The State Bar of California which has certified him as a Taxation Law Specialist and his appointment as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles where he has taught classes on the general principals of taxation, federal tax administration and litigation and business planning. He was the Director of Insurance Tax Services for Price Waterhouse and a Vice President and Senior Tax Counsel for Combined Insurance Company of America. He has also lectured extensively on tax matters before various tax meetings.

In the estate planning area, he has aided married and single clients in the preparation of their estate plans. This has included clients with small estates and those with multi-million dollar estates. His level of estate planning expertise has been recognized by the National Association of Estate Planners which has designated him as an Accredited Estate Planner and his appointment as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles where he teaches a seminar of estate planning and drafting.

Although he becomes involved in all types of litigation, he has devoted a substantial part of his time to probate and trust litigation. He has represented beneficiaries in challenges to trusts and trustees. In one case of note, he secured a judgement that nearly doubled the funds distributed to his clients after all fees were paid. That judgement survived a challenge before both the California Court of Appeal and the California Supreme Court. He has also been appointed by judges of the Probate Division of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County to represent the Court in the investigation of probate, trust and conservatorship matters before the Court, i.e., the Court's attorney.

In addition to those areas of practice, he has specialized in all phases of taxation of insurance companies at the federal, state and local levels for a significant part of his practice time. He has represented insurance companies in transactional analysis and implementation, litigation, and compliance at federal and state levels, and at administrative agency hearings. He has also acted as an expert witness in state insurance company taxation matters. He most recently acted as the insurance industry's expert in a challenge to constitutionality of the State of Alabama's premium taxation statutes, resulting in a finding of unconstitutionality.

He is the author of State and Local Taxation of Insurance Companies, which is used by insurance companies, law firms and accounting firms throughout the United States and Canada. His book is recognized as the most authoritative single source work on the subject. He is also the author of three other books dealing with insurance and taxation. He has lectured at IASA national and local meetings, The Insurance Tax Conference (of which he is the founder), Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association national and regional tax conferences, Booke & Co. tax sessions and before the Best's & Co. User's Conference.

Education

He received his Doctor of Law and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Chicago. He was also registered as a Certified Public Accountant by the State of Illinois.

Professional Organizations

He is a member of the California and Illinois State Bar Associations as well as the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Beverly Hills Bar Association, the San Fernando Valley Bar Association and the American Association of Attorney Certified Public Accountants. He is also a Fellow of the Life Management Institute.