Louis H. Diamond

Louis H. Diamond, a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits, Estate Planning and Tax practice groups, is one of the leading ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) attorneys in the country. His work with ESOPs is all encompassing, ranging from representing owners selling stocks to an ESOP, employees pooling ESOP funds to purchase their division/subsidiary from corporations large and small, banks and others making ESOP loans and ESOPs themselves and their trustees. He also provides sophisticated estate planning to major stockholders in both public and privately held companies. Representing the employees of the Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute (now Alion Science and Technology) in a $130 million employee buyout of its operating assets is among Mr. Diamond’s most notable ESOP achievements.

As an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, Mr. Diamond teaches one of the very few ESOP courses in the United States. He has published numerous ESOP-related articles and papers in such prestigious publications as The Tax Advisor and The Compensation Planning Journal, and authored portfolios for the Bureau of National Affairs' "Tax Management" series. He is also a frequent speaker at employee benefit and tax conferences around the country, having regularly appeared at annual conferences of the ESOP Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the New York University Institute on Federal Taxation and the Southern Federal Tax Institute among others.

Mr. Diamond is a past chairman of the ESOP Association’s Legislative and Regulatory Advisory Committee. He previously served as attorney advisor at the United States Tax Court, is a Charter Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel and a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.

After receiving his B.A. in accounting from George Washington University, Mr. Diamond earned his J.D. cum laude and served as an Associate Editor of the Law Review at the George Washington University National Law Center before obtaining his LL.M. in Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center. He is admitted to practice in Washington, D.C. and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Education

LL.M. in Taxation, Georgetown University Law Center
J.D., Cum Laude, George Washington University National Law Center
B.A., George Washington University

Affiliations

Past Chair, Legislative and Regulatory Committee, ESOP Association

Member, National Center for Employee Ownership

ESOP Subcommittee of the Employee Benefits Committee of the American Bar Association

Adjunct Professor of Taxation, ESOPs, Georgetown University Law Center

Past Attorney Advisor, United States Tax Court

Charter Fellow, American College of Employee Benefits Counsel

Fellow, American College of Tax Counsel

ESOP Chair, Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal

Certified Public Accountant and Past Member, Benefits and Compensation Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of Accountancy, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

Publications and Speeches

ESOPs and Charitable Remainder Trusts, Volume Two, Ch. 26, Employee Stock Ownership Plans, Published by The Beyster Institute at the Rady School of Management, Univ. of Cal., San Diego, 2007

A Path to 100 Percent ESOP Ownership, Presentation at the 30th Annual Conference of The ESOP Association, May 15, 2007

Emerging and Innovative Practices with ESOP Capital, Presentation for the Beyster Institute/NCEO Joint Annual Conference, The 2007 Employee Ownership Conference, March 21, 2007

Stock Value Drop Issues, Presentation for the 9th Annual S Corporation ESOP Seminar, February 15, 2007

Tax Aspects of Mergers and Acquisitions, Presentation for The ESOP Association, November 10, 2006

ESOP Innovations, Presentation at The ESOP Association Trade & Conference Show, November 10, 2006

Pros, Cons and Alternatives to 1042, Presentation at The ESOP Association MAC Conference, October 26, 2006

Multi-Stage ESOP Transactions, Presentation at The ESOP Association 27th Annual Conference, May 17, 2006

Acquisition Strategies for S Corp. ESOP Companies, Presentation to ESOP Association S Corp. Seminar, February 23, 2006

Using Your ESOP as an Acquisition Tool, Presentation to ESOP Association Technical Conference, November 11, 2005

Understanding and Applying the Recently Issued IRC 409(p) Temporary Regulations, and How They Will Interact With Equally New Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Regulations Under IRC 409A, Presentation to ESOP Association S Corp. ESOP Seminar, February 24, 2005

Innovative ESOP Transactions, Presentation to ESOP Assoc.’s Annual ESOP Two-Day Conference, November 5, 2004

IRS Provides Further ESOP S Corporation Relief in Rev. Proc. 2004-14, Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal, March 2004

Abusive S Corporation ESOP Arrangements Declared Listed Transactions, April 2004

Potential Available in Funding ESOPs Through Lateral Transfers and Use of an Internal Market, Presentation to ESOP Association S Corp. ESOP Seminar, February 26, 2004

ESOP Government Contractors Have a Ball, Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal, February 2004

Unlocking the Lock-in Effect of Selling to an ESOP, Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal, February 2004

New Regulations Stop S Corp. ESOP Abuse, But Cause Ancillary Problems, Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal, October 2003

Subchapter S and ESOP – The Perfect Marriage, Presentation to NYU 62nd Institute on Federal Taxation, October 2003

CRT Plus ESOP: A Win/Win Combination, Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal, September 2003

ESOPs Law, Analysis and Case Studies, NYU Review of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation, Chapter 14, 2003

Optimization with ESOPs, Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal, August 2001

ESOP Appraisals from a Lawyer’s Point of View, Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal, November 2000

Fair Market Value in ESOP Transactions – A Moving Target, MACPA Conference, August 21, 2000

Estate and Business Succession Planning Using ESOPs, Presentation to ABA Section of Taxation, May 2000

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