Michael Sanders is the lead partner of the Firm’s Washington, D.C., office tax group. He focuses his practice in the area of taxation, offering particular knowledge in matters affecting partnerships, limited liability companies, S-corporations, real estate, tax controversy, and estate planning, including trusts and estates. He also has a large practice in the area of exempt organizations involving healthcare and low-income housing, associations and joint ventures between for-profits and nonprofits, as well as structuring New Markets Tax Credit (“NMTC”) and Historic Tax Credit (“HTC”) transactions. He regularly serves as an expert witness in complex litigation. Michael is the author of Joint Ventures Involving Tax-Exempt Organizations (4th Ed., 2013; 2016 Supplement) published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The book was recently cited by the majority opinion in the widely covered U.S. Supreme Court decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. He is also an adjunct professor at George Washington University Law Center and Georgetown University Law School teaching Income Taxation of Partnerships and Subchapter S Corporations and Tax Treatment of Charities and Other Non-Profit Organizations, and Joint Ventures Involving Tax Exempt Organizations (including healthcare, universities, LIHTC, new markets, HTC, and conservation organizations, respectively). Michael has been recognized by Chambers USA as a leading tax attorney, with clients noting that “he stands out for his persistence, accessibility, seasoned judgment and reasonableness, coupled with his creativity in finding solutions.” In 2007, he was selected from a field of the nation’s leading lawyers and judges as a finalist for the Lawdragon 500 based upon his current impact on the biggest issues and deals in the law. Prior to Blank Rome, Michael served as an attorney-adviser to the assistant secretary of tax policy at the Office of Tax Legislative Counsel and as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice (Attorney General’s Honors Program). In 2016, Michael was honored by The George Washington University Law School for his 40 years of teaching at the law school.

RECOGNITIONS • Tax Law, listed in Chambers USA • 2006–2019, Litigation and Controversy – Tax and Tax Law in Washington, D.C., listed in Best Lawyers in America© • 2007–2009, 2011, 2014–2015, “Top Tax Lawyer” in Washington, D.C., listed in Washingtonian Magazine

ADMISSIONS District of Columbia, 1979 New York, 1964 Supreme Court of the United States U.S. Tax Court United States Court of Federal Claims MEMBERSHIPS American Bar Association American Institute of Certified Public Accountants District of Columbia Bar Association Internal Revenue Service Commissioner’s Exempt Organizations Advisory Group EDUCATION Georgetown University (LLM Tax, 1967) New York University School of Law (LLB, 1964) New York University (BS, 1960, Major: Accounting, summa cum laude)

• 2014, “Outstanding Attorney Award” by the Nonprofit Organizations Committee of the American Bar Association, Business Law Section • 2005, “Light of Jerusalem Award,” by the Israel Bonds Legal and Financial Division • 2004, “Top Ten Lawyer” and “Top Tax Lawyer,” listed in Washington Business Journal PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES Michael serves as co-general counsel and a member of the Board of the Children’s Charities Foundation, which funds nonprofit organizations that support disadvantaged and at-risk children.

Michael I. Sanders Partner Tax Washington, D.C. 202.772.5808 sanders@blankrome.com

 

Krista Santino is an accounting and finance professional with over 23 years of experience, including approximately 21 years of work dedicated to forensic investigation, litigation consulting, and internal audit. Ms. Santino holds an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.B.A. in Accounting from Texas A&M University at College Station. She is a Certified Public Accountant and accredited in Business Valuation and Certified in Financial Forensics by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Ms. Santino’s areas of concentration include forensic financial investigations, business valuation, accounting malpractice, intellectual property infringement, purchase price dispute analysis, risk assessment, financial statement analysis, financial modeling and data analysis, and complex litigation damages assessment.

Ms. Santino’s experience includes engagements in the following industries, among others: • Banking/Financial Services • Medical Devices/Pharmaceuticals • Construction • Mobile Devices/Applications • Entertainment • Oil and Gas • High Technology/Internet • Real Estate • Insurance • Software • Manufacturing • Telecommunications

Mr. Sapourn is a co-founder and portfolio manager for Aloha Capital. Steve oversees borrower and deal underwriting as well as portfolio management, with a focus on maximizing returns and mitigating risks. Steve’s years of experience in the alternative investment industry dates to 1996 and include founding and serving as chief investment officer for hedge funds managing over $125 million using quantitative trading strategies he developed and implemented.   He has performed various roles including chief compliance officer, chief of operations and portfolio manager for Commodity Trading Advisors and fund of funds.  He has deep expertise in analyzing the risk and reward of investment opportunities.   As portfolio manager for Aloha Capital, Steve has underwritten and serviced over $50 million in loans to sophisticated real estate investors in 10 states.  A real estate investor for over 25 years, Mr. Sapourn, actively invests in commercial and single family residential projects as well lending money secured by real estate to well qualified borrowers.  Steve graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1992 and lives in Boulder with his two children Athena and Apollo.

Fabio Savoldelli is an Adjunct Professor of Finance at Columbia University, teaching Hedge Fund Selection and Investment in the MBA program.  Previously, he was Chief Investment Officer for Optima Fund Management, a fund of funds. An industry veteran, Mr. Savoldelli was Managing Director & Chief Investment Officer at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers Alternative Strategies, CIO for the Americas at the Chase Manhattan Private Bank and Deputy CIO & Head of Fixed Income and Foreign Exchange at Swiss Bank Corp.  Mr. Savoldelli received a DBS from the London School of Economics and a BA in Economics from the University of Windsor in Canada.

 

 

One of the leading and internationally recognized art advisors, Lisa Schiff has over a decade of experience building private collections and foundations.  As the founder and Principal of SFA Art Advisory, she has offices in New York, Los Angeles, and London.

Lisa is ABD on her PhD in Art History from the Graduate Center, CUNY.  She holds an MA in Art History from the University of Miami, Florida, and a BA in Art History and French from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.  She attended Columbia University’s Reid Hall in Paris where she wrote her senior thesis and completed one year of law school at the Faculte de Droit de Montpellier.  Additionally, she has taught as an adjunct professor of art history, lectures continually and sits on panels, and is regularly sought out for her opinion in the press.  Lisa has also curated exhibitions, has mounted several benefit auctions for the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, and consults on visual culture for the Foundation.  She collaborated with Economic Theorist Jeremy Rifkin on an exhibition called “Open Source: Art at the Eclipse of Capitalism,” and is planning another based on his theories of Empathy.  Finally, Lisa has produced special projects for artists such as Alex Israel and Doug Aitken and is currently working on a project in Miami at the Perez Art Museum.

Lisa co-founded VIA Art, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting artistic production, thought leadership, and public engagement and currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Swiss Institute.