Team Members

I grew up working with my father in a family owned business. After 10-1/2 years of post-high school education I broke his heart when I decided not to join him as a partner and instead went off to work in some of the largest professional practices in the world. After being an advisor to some of the largest companies in the world for 35 years, I tried retirement briefly but former closely held business clients found me and insisted I come back. I have returned to my roots to work with closely held companies and their owners for over 13 years now and I am loving it.

Lately I have been spending a substantial portion of my time helping closely held companies sell themselves to larger companies. I find I have been able to help the seller determine the value of their company and how to negotiate the best possible deal with the buyer. I help work out the structure for a win-win result. The paper work I leave to my younger colleagues.

I am on the brink of turning 80 and I have decided that I have worked enough and that it is time for me to retire. I stopped accepting new clients about three years ago, most client projects have been completed. I do encourage you to reach out to the young professionals who have worked with me.

LAW OFFICE OF DAVID S. HOWARD, San Jose, CA (2015-Present)
Founder

HOGE FENTON, San Jose, CA (2009-2014)
Of Counsel, Tax Attorney

DELOITTE, based in San Jose, CA Served Clients in UK, Switzerland, France, Japan, Bermuda, Jersey and Australia (1984-2005)
Tax Partner
Until I reached the age of mandatory retirement for partners, I was a national partner and part of Deloitte’s elite Office of the Chairman team selected to serve their most significant clients. • Managed the largest single tax engagement in the world for the firm. • Chair of Tax Function Human Resources Committee (1985-1989) • Led National Succession Planning Practice • Led National R&D Tax Credit Practice

ARTHUR ANDERSEN & CO., Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Silicon Valley Offices (1975-1984)
Senior Tax Manager
Became expert in Estates and Trust administration, High Technology Tax Issues and Agricultural taxation

PEAT, MARWICK, MITCHELL (now KPMG), Los Angeles, CA (1969-1972)
Audit and Tax Practice • Worked as auditor for 6 months and then Tax Associate and Tax Senior for balance of time with the firm. • Became expert in tax exempt organizations.

Teaching Experience

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MASTER OF TAXATION PROGRAM, SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY
San Jose, CA
Taught the “Capstone” class in the ten-course program for several years. This calls was a case study class that required using tax skills in most of the various technical areas covered in the program.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA Santa Barbara, CA (1978-79)
Adjunct Professor
Taught undergraduate courses in Personal Income Taxation and Business Law

NYU TAX INSTITUTE New York, NY (1988)
Presented on Tax Planning for Multinational Executives and contributed chapter to annual publication.

CALIFORNIA CPA SOCIETY Taught various 8 hour courses on Tax Planning for Closely Held Companies • Fiduciary Accounting • Fiduciary Taxation • Developed the Dave Howard never out of balance fiduciary accounting system • Taxation of Farmers • Chaired Estate Planning Conference for Farmers • Spoke at Annual Tax Update Conferences on Valuation • Tax Reform • In various locations throughout the Western US.

VARIOUS BAR AND CPA GROUPS
Tax Issues for Owners of Closely Held Companies • Valuation of Closely Held Companies • ESOP for Succession Planning • ERISA issues for closely held companies • Key Man Compensation Strategies • Setting up Foreign Rabbi Trusts (Pre Section 409A) • Various TV Interviews on Tax Reforms • Estate Planning Counsel Presentations • Taught Arthur Andersen internal training

Education

STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CONTINUING STUDIES, Courses not taken for credit presented by outstanding Stanford Professors and other Qualified Professionals, (since 2004 to present)
Completed over 100 units of course work including Anthropology, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Ancient Myan Religion, Old Testament Studies, Philosophy, History, Political Science, Macro Economics, Statistics, French, Ancient Maps, Creative Writing, Art History, Greek Mythology, French, Photography, Cinema, Linguistics, Anatomy, Archealogy, DNA used in Medicine, Journalism, Logic, Cultural Anthropology, Philosophy of Artifical Intelligence, and more.

KELLOGG SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY and COLUMBIA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, Course Venue - Stamford, CT
Deloitte Competitive Readiness Training - MBA Refresher, (1998)
Voted Valedictorian of his program session

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL FACULTY
Negotiations Training (1995)

GOULD SCHOOL OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, Los Angeles, CA
Juris Doctor, (1970)
Vice Chair Moot Court Honors Program • President LDS Students Assn Southern California region

SOL PRICE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, Los Angeles, CA
Masters of Public Administration, (1970)
Masters Thesis on Public Employees Right to Strike

MARSHALL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CLIFORNIA, Los Angeles, CA
BS in Accounting, Statistics and Economics (1966)
Dean’s List Scholar all Semesters • President LDS Students Assn USC

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY, Provo, UT
Undergraduate studies in Accounting (1960-62, 1965)
Elected Class Officer • BYU Debate Team • Intercollegiate Knights National Honors Fraternity

Professional Licenses and Admissions

California, Bar No. 48793, (Passed exam 1970, Sworn in Jan 1971)

U.S. Tax Court, Bar No. HD0309, (June 1972)

United States District Court for the Central District of California, (Jan 1971)

United States District Court for the Northern District of California, (Jun 2019)

California Certified Public Accountant, Lic. No. 17669 A, (Exam passed 1970, experience finished June 1972) Retired Status since February 1, 2021.

Foreign Languages and Foreign Cultures

I have spent a substantial amount of time living and working outside of the United States (Argentina, Switzerland, France, and England). I lived in Argentina for nearly three years and I speak, read and write Spanish fluently. I can correspond and transact business in written French and written Italian. I handled an audit by the French Tax Authority recently by corresponding in written French. The claim was for over $1 million. We settled for ZERO.

I understand cultural differences and I enjoy dealing with businesses with connections to Asia, Europe and Latin America. During my career with Deloitte for a period of time I served all Japanese clients in Silicon Valley and later all Chinese clients in Silicon Valley. My client base continues to be diverse with a Indian, Iranian, Vietnamese, Turkish, Carribean, and Armenian clients.