Nykolas McKissic is a private wealth services attorney in Holland & Knight's Dallas Office. Mr. McKissic focuses his practice on providing strategic counsel to clients in the areas of charitable giving, philanthropy, and domestic and international tax-exempt organizations.
Mr. McKissic leverages his background in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and complex tax situations to advise clients on qualifications for tax-exempt status, corporate governance practices and policies, and financial and legal compliance.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. McKissic was an associate in the nonprofit practice for a national AmLaw 100 firm in Dallas. In addition, Mr. McKissic previously practiced in M&A with a Big Four accounting firm in Chicago, where he advised clients on federal income tax issues relating to corporate taxation, including domestic and multinational strategic mergers, acquisitions, dispositions and separations, with an emphasis on corporate taxation.
Mr. McKissic also has experience assisting equine-focused nonprofits and professional associations in managing their legal matters on a broad array of issues. Mr. McKissic owns three horses and often competes in rodeo sports, including team roping. As a result of his experience with nonprofit organizations and other equine-focused issues, Mr. McKissic is well versed in assisting tax-exempt organizations in handling equine-related matters.
Tillena G. Clark is an attorney-CPA and solo practitioner in Montgomery County, Maryland. She concentrates her practice in the areas of Wills, Trusts, Estates, Probate, and Taxation. She has extensive experience in estate planning, and drafting wills and trust documents that minimize federal and state taxes, safeguard assets, and preserve wealth.
Ms. Clark is admitted to practice in the state of Maryland, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and the United States Supreme Court. She is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in Maryland.
Prior to establishing her law practice in 2006, Ms. Clark worked as a CPA and financial statements auditor of Fortune 500 companies and financial institutions at a certified public accounting firm based in New York City. She also worked as an attorney-advisor at a federal financial institutions regulatory agency in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Clark received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in economics from the University of Rochester in New York. She graduated from The Catholic University of America where she earned a Master of Arts degree in Management, and later, a Juris Doctor degree from the Columbus School of Law.
While studying law as an evening law student, Ms. Clark was a student attorney in the Columbus Community Legal Services (CCLS) Advocacy for the Elderly clinic. She also worked as a law clerk in the Chambers of the Honorable Loren A. Smith, Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
Ms. Clark is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association's Estate & Trust Law, Taxation Law, and Solo & Small Firm Practice sections. She is also a member of the American Association of Attorneys-Certified Public Accountants. She is recognized by The National Black Lawyers Top 100 as one of the top 100 African American attorneys in Maryland.
In addition to her law practice, Ms. Clark is an adjunct faculty member at The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, where she has lectured on the business of law and law practice management since 2010.
LaVonne Lawson graduated from Stanford University and received a law degree and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Duke University. LaVonne provides counsel and representation in domestic and international tax compliance matters. She is a former Senior Attorney with the Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service, in which capacity she advised revenue agents and revenue officers, represented the IRS in the United States Tax Court and advised Department of Justice Attorneys and Assistant United States Attorneys in tax cases outside of the Tax Court.
LaVonne is a former member of the State Bar of California Taxation Section Executive Committee. She is also a former member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Board of Trustees. LaVonne current serves as the immediate-past president of the Beverly Hills Bar Association.
Dwight serves as an advocate and trusted advisor to his clients who span a broad range of sectors and business sizes. As an integral member of the CH& Business group, Dwight’s practice focuses on Mergers & Acquisitions, particularly in the area of cross-border mergers and acquisitions and divestitures. Dwight has extensive experience in representing multinational companies in connection with US transactions and operations and coordinating and managing multijurisdictional teams. As a strategic thinker, Dwight enables his clients to navigate the intricacies of each transaction while never losing sight of their overall goals. Dwight empowers his clients to make informed, objective decisions to quickly close transactions and provide the maximum value to all parties involved. In addition to M&A, Dwight’s multi-faceted practice also emphasizes corporate governance, federal and state tax, and commercial contracts. Representing multinational, privately held and emerging companies, Dwight thinks outside of the box to deliver creative solutions for complex contract negotiations. His commercial contract clients span a wide array of industries including manufacturing, retail, food and beverage, technology, advertising and marketing, and service-oriented sectors. Dwight provides counsel on organizational structure, day-to-day management and fiduciary duties. Dwight also helps non-profit organizations achieve tax-exempt status and establish approved governance. Defined by his willingness to go above and beyond for his clients, Dwight provides respectful and responsive legal counsel across all aspects of his practice. Experience & Results Represented the WaveDivision Capital management team in multiple acquisitions valued at over $1.3 billion Represented Wave Broadband in multiple acquisitions and its subsequent $2.36 billion sale to TPG Capital Represented multinational Japanese-based print manufacturing company in multiple cross-border acquisitions exceeding $1 billion Represented multinational software manufacturing company in multiple acquisitions exceeding $100 million Represented regional telecommunications company in multiple acquisitions valued at over $100 million Represented online security, privacy and e-Learning company in $61 million majority interest sale to private equity firm Represented client in sale of fish processing company for $56 million Represented client in sale of data analytics company in $39 million sale to multinational accounting services firm Regularly represents procurement department of international, publicly traded, coffee, food and beverage company in its commercial contracts Education University of Washington (B.A., 1994) University of Washington School of Law (J.D., 1997) Admissions Washington Honors & Recognition Ranked in Washington State by Chambers USA in the area of Corporate/M&A since 2021 Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in Corporate Law since 2021 Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in Tax Law since 2021 Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in Mergers and Acquisitions since 2024 Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships) since 2024 Listed in The National Black Lawyers Top 100 since 2022 Top Business Lawyer – Business Transaction, General Award Recipient, Seattle Business 40 Under 40 Honoree, Puget Sound Business Journal Named on the Washington Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers® Magazine Professional & Community Involvement Cross Cultural Health Care Program, President Orcas Open Arts (dba, Orcas Island Film Festival), Board Member Practice Areas Business Corporate Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions and Business Transactions Tax Intellectual Property & Technology Transactions Employment Distressed Mergers & Acquisitions
Damon Rowe joins Meadows Collier after two decades of service at the IRS. His practice focus is White-Collar Crime and Government Regulatory Litigation, Tax Controversy and Litigation, and Cryptocurrency and Digital Assets. He has expertise in many areas including cryptocurrency, financial crimes, civil and criminal tax, money laundering, fraud, internal investigations, and the Bank Secrecy Act.
Mr. Rowe began his career at the IRS in 1998 as a Special Agent and held numerous leadership positions for the agency. He served as the Special Agent in Charge for both the Los Angeles and Dallas Field Offices in the Criminal Investigation Division. This office investigates a diverse mix of financial investigations, including cybercrime, international tax fraud, identity theft, public corruption and Bank Secrecy Act. His next leadership position was Executive Director of International Operations in the Criminal Investigation Division. He successfully designed and implemented novel strategies to detect and mitigate international financial crimes, devised an international financial crime strategy used to train and educate thousands of global investigators in over 50 countries. His most recent position was Executive Director of the Office of Fraud Enforcement. While in this position, International and Domestic fraud threat mitigation strategies were developed and implemented for all IRS business operating divisions. This office implemented a four-pillar intelligence model which aided in fraud detection. He led the COVID Relief Fraud Project and the Joint International Task Force.
Damon Rowe served on the law faculty as an Adjunct Professor at Texas A&M University School of Law, where he taught a course in international white-collar crime.
Mr. Rowe received his LL.M. in Tax from SMU Dedman School of Law and his J.D. from Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law. He graduated from the University of Houston with a B.S. in Accounting.
Mr. Rowe was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1992
Education Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, LL.M. in Taxation, 1996 Texas Southern University, J.D., 1992
Memberships National Bar Association Member, Tax Law Section American Bar Association Member, Tax Section Member, Tax Section, Diversity in the Professions Committee Dallas Bar Association Member, Tax Section Member, Criminal Section American College of Tax Counsel Fellow Association of Government Accountants Member Association of Former Internal Revenue Executives (AFIRE) Member The National Black Lawyers Member Texas Blockchain Council Member J.L. Turner Legal Association Member
Teaching Adjunct Professor, Texas A&M University School of Law, teaching " International White Collar Crime", Spring 2022
Admissions Texas, 1992 United States Tax Court United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
Honors and Awards Inductee, 2023 Edition of Who's Who in America
Publications Damon Rowe was quoted in an article published in The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) by Spencer Woodman on June 11, 2024, titled, "How the IRS went soft on billionaires and corporate tax cheats." Damon Rowe was quoted in a Tax Notes article titled, "Compassionate Collection? A Tax Man Has a Message to Quiet Critics", February 13, 2024. "Being Prepared for an IRS Criminal Investigation Visit", Dallas Bar Association Headnotes, April 2023. "IR Priorities: Detecting Fraud, Protecting Taxpayers", A Closer Look, International Fraud Awareness Week in November 2021. "When it Comes to Tax Scams, Knowledge is Power," A Closer Look , IRS Office of Fraud Enforcement, April 2021.
Presentations May 10, 2024 - TXCPA Dallas Convergence 2024 May 4, 2024 - American Bar Association (ABA) May Tax Meeting April 16, 2024 - Willis-Knighton (WK) Eye Institute Seminar March 9, 2024 - National Bar Association 44th Annual Mid-Year Conference December 1, 2023 - 2023 NE IRS Representation Conference (Day Two) November 30, 2023 - 2023 NE IRS Representation Conference (Day One) September 14, 2023 - Collin County Bar Association Corporate Counsel Section June 6, 2023 - Damon Rowe - Tax Alliance Conference Bootcamp May 6, 2023 - 2023 ABA Section of Taxation May Tax Meetings May 5, 2023 - ABA Section of Taxation 2023 May Tax Meetings March 7, 2023 - Mike Villa and Damon Rowe are guest speakers on the Tax Rep Network February 2-3, 2023 - 2023 Tax Law in a Day December 16, 2022 - Society of Louisiana CPAs' Tax Conference November 18, 2022 - 2022 NE IRS Representation Conference October 27, 2022 - UCLA Extension's 38th Annual Tax Controversy Conference October 20, 2022 - Texas Management Group (TMG) Annual Meeting (Day One) October 18, 2022 - TXCPA Dallas Member Appreciation CPE Series October 14, 2022 - ABA Section of Taxation 2022 Fall Meeting September 23, 2022 - 2022-2023 State Bar of Texas Tax Section Leadership Academy September 15, 2022 - Meadows Collier, Baker Tilly and Texas A&M University Co-Sponsored Event September 14, 2022 - September 2022 1-Hour Webinar September 7, 2022 - 40th Annual Course Tax Law 2022: Practicing Law in Uncertain Times-Webcast Replay August 23, 2022 - Metroplex Practice Management Group (MPMG) Aug. 2022 August 23, 2022 - TXCPA CPE Summit 2022 (Day Two) August 3, 2022 - 40th Annual Course Tax Law 2022: Practicing Law in Uncertain Times August 2, 2022 - Armanino Presentation June 22, 2022 - Cryptocurrency: A Tax and Estate Planning Perspective May 25, 2022 - Texas Bank and Trust Taxation and Estate Planning Update for Professionals May 18, 2022 - Wichita Falls Chapter Free CPE Day May 14, 2022 - Damon Rowe - ABA Section of Taxation 2022 May Tax Meeting May 10, 2022 - Texas Bank and Trust Taxation and Estate Planning Update for Professionals
Blog November 17, 2023 - The Form 8300 Hazards for Businesses and Practitioners - The IRS has recently increased their focus and examinations of businesses who deal in cash (or cash equivalents such as cashier's checks and money orders). These examinations have led to significant fines and penalties for these unsuspecting businesses. If the IRS discovers that a business is not properly reporting cash transactions on IRS Form 8300, Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business, the associated fines and penalties can easily amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
August 30, 2023 - IRS Targets High-Income Individuals Illegally Claiming Puerto Rico's Tax Benefits - The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") Commissioner Danny Werfel stated that the Agency is taking "swift and aggressive action" to strengthen enforcement efforts against high-income individuals. As part of these enforcement efforts, the IRS identified approximately 100 individuals, including crypto traders and fund managers suspected of illegally claiming Puerto Rico's tax benefits. According to the IRS, the enforcement efforts will include both civil audits and criminal investigations.