William R. Nicholas retired from the partnership on December 1996. He was based out of the Los Angeles office and has practiced law with the firm since 1962. He is past chairman of the firm's national Tax Department and practiced general corporate tax law on the federal, state and local levels. In the recent past, Mr. Nicholas has represented taxpayers in several IRS audits of major LBOs. In addition to tax planning and representing taxpayers in administrative proceedings, Mr. Nicholas has litigated tax cases in the United States Tax Court, Court of Claims, federal district courts, federal Courts of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. He has also litigated tax cases in the California Superior Courts and the California Appellate Courts.
Mr. Nicholas is a former member of the Taxation Law Section of the American Bar Association, the American College of Tax Counsel and the Association of Tax Counsel. He served for 20 years as a member of the Planning Committee of the USC Tax Institute, was a California certified tax specialist and was listed in Who's Who in American Law and The Best Lawyers in America.