TAX TALK

Mary Beth Beattie

Perhaps the most important issue in our practice today is whether attorneys practicing law should be permitted to join forces with other professionals, such as accountants, social workers, and financial planners, to form multidisciplinary

practices. Constant pressure from large accounting firms hiring and acquiring tax attorneys to develop "one-stop shopping" has spawned a vigorous debate at the national and local level on the meaning of this trend for the future of the practice of tax law. The American Bar Association has appointed a Commission on Multidisciplinary Practice, which released its recommendations to the ABA last summer. MSBA President, Jim Thompson, has appointed a Task Force on the Practice of Law, and David Cohen, Stuart Levine, and Ronald Shiff, all recent past chairs of the MSBA Tax Section, have been asked to serve on the Task Force. We extend our congratulations and look forward to hearing more on this debate that will shape our future.

· Those Tax Section members who attended the November 16 Fall Fellowship Dinner were treated to a discourse on the issue of multidisciplinary practice by Stefan Tucker, immediate past chair of the ABA Tax Section. Stef has been involved in this debate at the national level, and he shared his unique insights into the future of the practice of law.

· The Fall Fellowship Dinner provided another interesting opportunity. For the first time in recent memory, the event was co-sponsored by the Tax Section and the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA). This event, a cocktail hour and dinner with speaker, offered Section members a unique opportunity to meet and talk with members of MACPA, the Section’s counterpart in the accounting world, and to get their perspective on the multidisciplinary practice debate. A great time was had by all!