Our Firm Evan J. Davis

davis@taxlitigator.com Phone: (310) 281-3200
Fax: (310) 859-5112 Download Vcard

Evan Davis joined the firm in 2016 after more than 20 years in the public sector as a trial lawyer with extensive civil and criminal trial and appellate experience in both federal and state courts. He and his cases have been profiled by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, People Magazine, as well as national legal publications such as Tax Notes and Law360.  Evan represents individuals and closely held entities in criminal tax investigations and prosecutions, civil tax controversy and litigation, sensitive-issue or complex civil tax examinations and administrative tax appeals, and federal and state white-collar criminal investigations. He represents numerous cryptocurrency clients worldwide on civil and criminal tax matters, speaks frequently on cryptocurrency, criminal tax, and Bank Secrecy Act issues, deals with civil and criminal cannabis-related tax issues, and handles civil and criminal unreported foreign account and foreign-entities investigations and disclosures.  In the appellate arena, he has argued cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as both a prosecutor and defense counsel and was trial and appellate counsel on the attorney-client privilege case In re Grand Jury, which the U.S. Supreme Court heard in 2023.

In 1998, after spending time as a civil litigator for the Washington State Attorney General’s Office and as a commodities regulator with the CFTC, Mr. Davis joined the Tax Division of the Department of Justice as a civil trial attorney. During his time at the DOJ Tax Division, he litigated a variety of civil tax and bankruptcy cases through bench and jury trial, ranging from enjoining tax shelter promoters to TEFRA partnership litigation.  He also handled many tax promoter investigations and injunction matters.  He was recognized by the Tax Division’s Assistant Attorney General as an Outstanding Lawyer in 2002, 2003, and 2004.

In 2005, he moved to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, initially handling civil and criminal tax cases in the USAO’s Tax Division and becoming one of a handful of lawyers to have litigated civil and criminal tax cases for the government in both Main Justice and a U.S. Attorney’s Office. From 2008 to 2016, Evan served in the Major Frauds Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division and built a reputation as a highly regarded trial attorney who handled some of the most complicated and difficult tax, financial, and health care fraud prosecutions. He has first-chaired dozens of white-collar, tax, bank secrecy, health care, and other fraud cases through investigation, jury trial or plea, and appeal. In addition to his trial work, he served as the Bankruptcy Fraud Coordinator, Financial Institution Fraud Coordinator, and Securities Fraud Coordinator for the Criminal Division. Among other awards throughout his career, in 2015, he received the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, the Attorney General’s highest litigation award, for his role in obtaining a $16 billion settlement from Bank of America based, in part, on Countrywide’s sale of Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities. He also has been recognized with awards from the IRS, FBI, United States Trustee Program, Council of Inspectors General, and even the judges of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. He trained both IRS agents and Department of Justice attorneys during his tenure with the Department of Justice.

Recent Presentations:
Mr. Davis frequently lectures on many topics throughout the country. His speaking engagements both in the private sector and as a federal prosecutor, include:

• Changes to Federal Sentencing Guidelines, ABA Civil and Criminal Tax Conference, December 2023
• In re Grand Jury – Hawaii Tax Conference 2023
• Criminal Tax, Parallel Investigations and Joint Investigations – When Two Worlds Collide – UCLA 39th Annual Tax Controversy Institute
• New Developments in Cryptocurrency: Reporting and Enforcement – CPA Academy
• In re Grand Jury – Beverly Hills Bar Association
• In re Grand Jury and the Future of Attorney Client Privilege: A Post-Oral Argument Discussion – ABA Tax Section Mid-Year Conference
• Protecting the Privilege in Tax Matters: It is Becoming More Difficult – USC Tax Institute
• The Benefits and Burdens of Plea Agreements – ABA 39th Annual National Institute on Criminal Tax Fraud
• Cryptocurrency Tax Compliance in a Rollercoaster Bitcoin World – Spidell
• When Aggressive Tax Planning Becomes Criminal Conduct and Ethical Considerations – 56th Annual Hawaii Tax Institute
• In Re Grand Jury and the Impact on Dual-Purpose Attorney Client Privilege – CLA Annual Taxation Meeting
• BSA & F8300 Compliance – UCLA 38th Annual Tax Controversy Institute
• Spidell – New Corporate Transparency Act:  The World is Changing
• California Lawyers Association 29th Annual Estate and Gift Tax Conference – Protect Your File
• CalCPA – Research and Development Tax Credits: IRS Scrutiny of Qualified Research Activity and Related Expenses
• Strafford – Cryptocurrency Tax Compliance
• UCLA Estate Planning Institute – Attorney-client Privilege Post In re Grand Jury
• Strafford – The New Office of Promoter Investigations – What tax professionals Should Know
• NYU Tax Controversy Forum – Shining Light on Dirty Money: Corporate Transparency and Anti-Money Laundering Acts of 2020
• CalCPA – Cryptocurrency Tax Compliance in the Post $50,000 Bitcoin World
• Strafford – Tax Reporting of Cryptocurrency
• Los Angeles County Bar Association, What to Do When the Feds Come Knocking: The Do’s and Don’t’s
• Korean National Tax Services, United States/IRS Cryptocurrency Tax Presentation
• CPA Academy, “New Developments in Cryptocurrency – Reporting and Enforcement”
• CalCPA, “Cryptocurrency Tax Compliance and Recent IRS Enforcement Efforts, Including Hard Forks, Exchanges and Taxable Transactions”
• National Business Institute, “Tax Penalties – What You Must Know”
• ABA National Institute on Criminal Tax Fraud – Charging Crypto-Currency Violations—Tax Crimes or Money Laundering
• Cal State LA – Current Developments in IRS Criminal Tax Enforcement
• Los Angeles County Bar Association, Tax Section: presentation on “Demystifying Criminal Tax Cases for Tax Practitioners and Criminal Defense Counsel”
• Internal Revenue Service’s Los Angeles Field Office, Criminal Investigations: Investigating and Prosecuting Employment Taxation Crimes
• US Department of Justice’s National Advocacy Center: lecturer/panelist regarding foreclosure-rescue fraud in an Advanced Mortgage Fraud course
• Office of United States Trustee’s Bankruptcy Fraud Working Group: presentation regarding foreclosure-rescue schemes involving bankruptcy fraud
• State Bar of California’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel: presentation on investigating attorneys alleged to have committed bankruptcy fraud
• US Attorney’s Office Healthcare Fraud Working Group: presentation regarding the “Skid Row” health care fraud and patient-dumping investigation and prosecution
• California Consumer Affairs Conference: presentation regarding mortgage and foreclosure fraud
• California Society for Health Care Lawyers annual conference: presentation regarding health care fraud investigations and prosecutions
• Neighborhood Housing Council’s Briefing to Legislative Staff: presentation regarding current trends in foreclosure-rescue schemes
• State Bar of California working group: presentation regarding immigration fraud schemes
• Mortgage Bankers Association’s Fraud Conference: presentation to fraud investigators on detecting and prosecuting mortgage and foreclosure fraud
• Beverly Hills Bar Association Health Law Committee: presentation on civil and criminal health care fraud investigations
• Los Angeles Chapter of Association of Certified Fraud Examiners: presentation on bankruptcy fraud and Ponzi schemes

 Publications:

• Article on In re Grand Jury in Tax Planning context, USC Tax Institute, 2023
• Co-author, BNA Tax Crimes Portfolio (4^th) 2020
• Maintaining Privileges When Kovel Accountants Prepare Tax Returns, Tax Notes, October 2018
• The Coming Wave of Federal and State Tax Zapper Prosecutions, Journal of Tax Practice and Procedure, December 2017-January 2018
• 30 Years After: What the Federal Sentencing Guidelines Have Meant for Criminal Tax Enforcement, USC Tax Institute, August 2017
• Proposed 2017 Amendments to Sentencing Guidelines May Be Good News for Tax Offenders, Journal of Tax Practice and Procedure, December 2016-January 2017

Education:

• Cornell Law School (J.D., Order of the Coif, magna cum laude; Finalist, Fraser Prize)
• Colgate University (A.B., Political Science with Economics Minor, cum laude)

 Professional Affiliations:

• American Bar Association, Section of Taxation, Member
• State Bar of California, Taxation Section, Member
• Los Angeles County Bar Association, Taxation Section, Member
• Beverly Hills Bar Association, Taxation Section and Entertainment Section, Member
• Chief Legal Officer for Infragard National Members Alliance (organization that partners with FBI, whose chapters have 70,000-plus members focused on protecting critical infrastructure) Click Here for More Information
• Board Member, Just the Beginning, A Pipeline Organization, LA Chapter.  Click Here for More Information
• American College of Tax Counsel, Fellow
• Thomas More Society, Board Member, 2023-present
• California Super Lawyer for 2022 and 2023

Bar Admittance:

• Supreme Court of California
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. District of Colorado
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
• U.S. District Court, Central, Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of California
• U.S. Tax Court