Mark Rizik is Chair of the firm’s Taxation practices.  He has extensive experience in matters regarding tax penalty cases, tax refund claims and litigation, estates and trusts as S corporation shareholders, employee and independent contractor classification, employee leasing, business transactions, and tax controversies.

Prior Work Experience:

Previously Mr. Rizik was the Senior Trial Attorney for the IRS Office of Chief Counsel. He was also the Special Assistant United States Attorney

Tax Litigation, Controversy and Planning Experience:

Mr. Rizik has successfully tried or handled hundreds of tax cases. His cases have resulted in  many nationally published opinions. He also has served as a tax or business consultant in other matters for many years, and has received multiple awards as a specialist in mergers & acquisitions, healthcare business law, and other business and finance related areas.

Awards and Honors:

Mr. Rizik has been recognized as one of the nation’s top tax lawyers and has received, among others, the following awards and honors:

• He has been listed in Best Lawyers in multiple areas since 2005, including Tax Law, Litigation and Controversy – Tax Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Banking and Finance Law, and Health Care Law.
• Best Lawyers has named him a “Lawyer of the Year” six times, three times in Litigation and Controversy – Tax, twice in Tax Law, and once in Mergers and Acquisition Law.
• He has been recognized, on multiple occasions, as one of America’s Most Honored Lawyers – Top 1% (The American Registry).
• He has been rated an AV Preeminent Attorney (Martindale-Hubbell)
• Grand Rapids Magazine has named him one of its Top Lawyers for 2022 and other years
• He has been named a Michigan Super Lawyer in tax and other areas many times
• He has received a Special Achievement Award from the Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service.

Other Prior Positions:

Mr. Rizik is a member of Michigan State Bar Tax Council and Michigan State Bar – Coordinator of After-Hours Tax Series Seminars. He is also the Treasurer of the Grand Rapids Bar

Seminars and Presentations:

Mr. Rizik has lectured, conducted seminars or made presentations many times on, among other things, matters relating to tax litigation, tax controversies, tax penalty cases, tax refund procedures, tax statutes of limitations, tax planning, estates and trusts, mergers and acquisitions, employee leasing, passive losses, S corporations, limited liability companies, choice of entities, tax issues in settlements, successor liability for taxes, personal liability for entity taxes, family offices, mergers, acquisitions and other business transactions, and selected Constitutional Law issues.

He has made presentations to, or for, the following groups, among others:

• Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants
• State Bar of Michigan
• Seidman School of Business at Grand Valley State University
• West Michigan Tax Executives Institute
• Michigan State University
• Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
• Holt/Diamondale Business Alliance
• Institute of Continuing Legal Education
• Lorman Business Center

Educational Background:

Mr. Rizik received his LLM in Taxation from Wayne State University Law School. He received his Juris Doctorate from Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School.