George E. Marifian is a founding shareholder at Mathis, Marifian & Richter (MM&R), who concentrates his practice in business law, civil and criminal tax controversy, estate planning and probate and litigation related to these practice areas. He is a recognized tax authority.

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Since cofounding MM&R in 1984, George has provided a full range of superior legal services to clients in the Southern Illinois and St. Louis Metropolitan areas. With over 30 years of professional experience, his background includes providing legal counsel to closely held businesses and individuals, business sales and acquisitions, and representing clients in shareholder litigation; civil tax audits, appeals and federal civil tax litigation, tax collection disputes and criminal tax defense; real estate transactions; and probate and trust litigation. He is recognized by the Illinois Leading Lawyers Network and by the Illinois Super Lawyers publications.

Professional Affiliations

George is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, a nonprofit professional association of tax lawyers who are chosen by their peers in recognition of their reputation for excellence in tax practice and for their substantial contributions and commitment to the profession.
He is an active member of the American Bar Association (ABA) and has served on the organization’s Taxation Section for over 20 years. He is a member of the section’s Administrative Practice and Civil and Criminal Tax Penalties Committees, and he is also a member and past chairman of the Employment Tax Committee. As chairman, George served as a panelist in Washington, D.C. in 2001, discussing worker classification on “Tax Talk Today,” a live Webcast cosponsored by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In 1999, he served as chair of the Tax Section’s Joint Task Force on IRS National Standards for Allowable Expenses. His task force report, which was submitted to the Senate Finance Committee, resulted in an amendment to the Internal Revenue Code.

George is also an active member of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) and has served continuously on one of the organization’s section councils or committees since 1985. He currently serves as vice-chairman of the Federal Taxation Section Council and previously served as its chairman. Over the years, George has made numerous presentations in Washington, D.C. to the staffs of the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee and to the staff of select members of the Illinois Congressional delegation, advancing the tax legislative recommendations of the Section Council. He is a past chairman of the Business Advice and Financial Planning Section Council and was chairman of the ISBA Special Committee on General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs, whose report to the Board of Governors was referred to and adopted by the ISBA Assembly in 2005. He has also served on the Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section Council and the Committee on Professional Conduct.

George is a founding member of the Institute for Illinois Business Laws (www.ilibl.org), a project of the Chicago-Kent College of Law and an outgrowth of the Illinois Secretary of State’s Business Acts Advisory Committee, where he served for several years prior to its dissolution. The Institute continues its tradition of reviewing the Illinois business statutes administered by the Secretary of State and includes leading business attorneys: partners from major firms, general counsels from major domestic Illinois corporations, and legislators from both sides of the aisle. All work is volunteer, pro bono.

He is also a past member of the Board of Directors of the St. Clair County Bar Association and previously served as its continuing education coordinator. He is a past member of the Illinois CPA Society’s (ICPAS) Estate and Gift Tax Planning Committee and a past chair of the ICPAS Southern Illinois Tax Conference. He has conducted seminars and educational programs for the ABA, the ISBA, the ICPAS, the Independent Accountants Association, the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education and the Estate Planning Council of Springfield, Illinois.

Community Leadership

George has dedicated years of volunteer service to numerous community organizations and has served on the Boards of Directors of the Call for Help, Inc., the River Bluffs Girl Scout Council and the Signal Hill Education Foundation. He was also elected and twice reelected to the Board of Education of Signal Hill School District No. 181 and has served as its president.

George is very involved in Holy Virgin Mary and Shoghagat Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, where he has served as chairman of the Parish Council. He is an ordained deacon, who regularly assists in the Liturgy and for many years has lead worship services in the absence of the pastor. For 20 years, he was the parish’s delegate to the Diocesan Assembly of the Armenian Church of America and was one of only 400 elected clergy and lay delegates worldwide to attend the National Ecclesiastical Assembly of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in Armenia for the pontifical election of the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians in April 1995.

Education

George received a BSBA from Washington University in St. Louis in 1972. He received his MBA from Saint Louis University in 1975 with a concentration in Accounting and his JD from Saint Louis University in 1976. In 1982 and 1983, he was awarded CPA certificates by the Missouri State Board of Accountancy and the University of Illinois, respectively, but is no longer a practicing certified public accountant.

Legal Services

Education

  • Saint Louis University
    JD 1976
    MBA 1975
  • Washington University in St. Louis
    BSBA 1972

Bar Admissions

  • Illinois
  • Missouri

Court Admissions

  • Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
  • United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois
  • United States Tax Court
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