Two Eastburn and Gray Attorneys Address 2024 Pennsylvania Business Privilege and Mercantile Tax Collectors Association
Two Eastburn and Gray, PC attorneys presented at the 2024 Pennsylvania Business Privilege and Mercantile Tax Collectors Association on October 24, 2024 in State College, Pennsylvania.
Jennifer W. Brown, Esquire and Richard H. Maurer, Esquire, both attorneys in the firm’s Litigation practice group, presented a seminar entitled, “Mercantile and Business Privilege Litigation Issues” where they covered current litigation trends facing municipalities throughout the Commonwealth. Increasingly, dissatisfied taxpayers go outside the jurisdiction to hire counsel, and some firms employ a “shock and awe” approach, seeking to overwhelm a taxing authority with lengthy court filings and burdensome discovery. Brown and Maurer described effective responses, drawn from recent cases, to these tactics.
Ms. Brown is an attorney in the firm’s Municipal Law and Taxation practice groups where she practices exclusively in municipal business tax compliance and enforcement. The majority of Ms. Brown’s practice is in representing taxing authorities in the application and administration of their taxes and representing local tax review boards or serving as a hearing officer for business privilege tax appeals. On occasion, especially where municipalities have overreached and fairness requires an experienced municipal tax attorney on the taxpayer’s side, Ms. Brown represents private businesses in local business privilege and mercantile tax matters.
Mr. Maurer is an attorney in the firm’s Municipal Law, Litigation and Taxation practice groups. His litigation experience has ranged from class actions to civil rights, with a wide variety of cases in between. Mr. Maurer was drawn to trial work at Georgetown Law, where he focused on evidence, procedure, and legal history. He began his career in the courtroom, serving as an Assistant Public Defender in Reading, Pennsylvania and since then he has taken about 40 cases to jury trial, with many more bench trials, civil and criminal. As a faculty member of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, he returned to Georgetown Law in 2017 to teach direct and cross examination for recent graduates. Prior to joining the firm, Richard was a private practice attorney in Philadelphia and Lehigh counties for nearly three decades.
The Pennsylvania Business Privilege and Mercantile Tax Collectors Association aims to discuss mutual problems, share experiences and work toward uniform standards in the administration, enforcement, and collection of Pennsylvania Business Privilege and Mercantile Taxes. To learn more about the association, please visit: https://pabusinessprivilegetax.org/.
