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EXPERIENCE

Ron Heller has been practicing law in Hawaii for over 30 years, concentrating on tax litigation, tax law, and business disputes, primarily dealing with accounting and financial issues. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant as well as an attorney. Mr. Heller is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, and a past Chair of the Tax Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association. He has litigated tax cases at the county, state, and federal levels. See, e.g.:,

• Air Tour Acquisition Corp. v. US, 781 F.Supp. 669 (D. Hawaii, 1991). Summary judgment in favor of the taxpayer in a case involving the federal excise tax on air transportation.
• US v. Vellalos, 780 F.Supp 705 (D. Hawaii 1992), affirmed w/o published opinion 990 F2d 1265 (9th Cir. 1993). Successfully represented a creditor claiming priority over the IRS in a collection matter.

In addition to tax cases, Ron has represented clients ranging from individual sole proprietors to multi-national corporations in a wide variety of business disputes, in court and in arbitration proceedings. He served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Hawaii School of Law, and has taught a number of continuing professional education courses for attorneys, CPAs, and others. He has authored or co-authored various articles and other publications, including:

• “Is the GE Tax Increase Constitutional?” Hawaii Bar Journal, March 2006
• “The FAQs of LLCs” Hawaii Bar Journal, July 2004
• “Limited Liability Company Manual,” published by Hawaii State Bar Association, 2011

RECOGNITIONS/DISTINCTIONS

• Listed in Best Lawyers in America for over 15 years (Tax Law)
• In 2004, received the “Small Business Champion” award for the State of Hawaii from the National Federation of Independent Business, went on to win the Small Business Champion award for the 7-state Southwest U.S. region.
• In 2005, appointed by Governor Linda Lingle to the Tax Review Commission of the State of Hawaii, subsequently elected Vice Chairman of the Commission
• President of the Hawaii Society of Certified Public Accountants, 1994-95.
• One of the two Hawaii representatives on the Council of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 1994-96 and 2002-04, re-elected 2011

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

In 2010, Mr. Heller was appointed by Governor Linda Lingle to a 4-year term on the Land Use Commission of the State of Hawaii. He has served on the boards of non-profit organizations including Manoa Valley Theatre, the Hawaii Women Lawyers Foundation, and the Hawaii Tax Foundation. He has been active for many years with various small business organizations, and has received awards including NFIB Hawaii’s “Outstanding Small Business Volunteer” award in 1998 and the Hawaii Society of CPAs’ Service Award in 1990. He served on the Kailua Neighborhood Board in 1994-95.