About
David H. Dickieson
7300 Burdette Court
Bethesda, MD 20817
202-320-6159
OVERVIEW
David Dickieson has over 40 years of tax litigation experience. The foundation for Mr. Dickieson’s trial work was strengthened by his tenure as a trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice, Tax Division from 1984 to 1989.
Mr. Dickieson’s private litigation practice has spanned virtually all forms of trial work. He has represented clients in Bankruptcy Court, Tax Court, state courts, and federal courts. Mr. Dickieson also has substantial experience in alternative dispute resolution through mediation or arbitration procedures through which clients typically achieve a quicker and less expensive resolution of a civil dispute in a private, confidential setting with no publicity or published decision.
In addition to his work on complex business and tax disputes, Mr. Dickieson has developed a growing Sports Law practice. He has represented several prominent sports agents in numerous arbitration and litigation matters spanning the country from Boca Raton to Los Angeles.
EXPERIENCE
Mr. Dickieson has worked as a government attorney, as a partner in a large law firm, and as a partner in two small law firms. He has lectured law students at American University about the advantages of each type of practice based on his years of experience. He has taught Continuing Legal Education seminars on legal ethics, neighbor law, and international tax reporting requirements.
EDUCATION
· University of Michigan Law School, J.D. 1979
· Cornell University, B.A. 1977
BAR ADMISSIONS:
District of Columbia – 1980 Virginia – 1990
Pennsylvania - 2000 Maryland - 1990
PRACTICE FOCUS:
· Tax Litigation and Counseling
· Business Disputes
· Civil Litigation
· Sports Law – Arbitration and Mediation
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2007 to Present
Schertler & Onorato LLP – Washington, D.C.
Title: Partner
Primary areas of practice: Civil litigation; complex business litigation; tax disputes; sports law.
1989 to 2007:
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC – Washington, D.C.
[Successor to Silverstein and Mullens, PLLC]
Title: Partner/shareholder, head of Washington Office litigation section - 1991 to 2007.
Primary areas of practice: Tax litigation, white collar criminal defense; commercial litigation, real estate litigation, bankruptcy litigation, ERISA litigation
1984 to 1989
United States Department of Justice
Tax Division
Washington, D.C.
Title: Senior trial attorney
Primary areas of practice: litigation, taxation, bankruptcy
1982 to 1984
Van Ness, Feldman -- Washington, D.C.
Title: Associate
1979 to 1982
Bracewell & Patterson -- Washington, D.C.
Title: Summer Associate and Associate
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
The following brief list of non-confidential client matters is a sample that demonstrates the wide range of substantive matters Mr. Dickieson has handled over the course of his legal career:
· Mr. Dickieson was lead counsel in litigating against the National Rifle Association in Alexandria Circuit Court, successfully defending his client while exposing the financial mismanagement of senior officials at the NRA.
· In March 2020, the United States Tax Court issued a decision granting innocent spouse status to Mr. Dickieson’s client, a widow whose now-deceased husband had failed to report several million dollars of income on their joint tax returns. Without innocent spouse status, the widow would have owed the IRS more than $1.3 million plus interest.
· In 2019, Mr. Dickieson represented a United States citizen who was arrested and tortured in Iran and received a judgment of $18 million against the government of Iran.
· In November 2016, Mr. Dickieson’s client achieved a landmark victory before the National Football League Players’ Association arbitrator by recovering not only the full amount of the client’s claim, but also an unprecedented attorney fee award in excess of $250,000.
· In January 2015, a D.C. Superior Court Judge granted judgment for Mr. Dickieson’s client in a case involving a transfer of real estate with an undisclosed termite infestation. The court also ordered the plaintiff to pay Mr. Dickieson’s client over $200,000 to cover attorney fees.
· In 2014, Mr. Dickieson represented an international animal rights organization in protracted litigation involving the use of elephants as circus performers.
· In May 2012, Mr. Dickieson obtained a $500,000 settlement for a client in a case of accounting malpractice involving D.C. sales tax issues.
· In 1990, Mr. Dickieson won a record jury verdict of $7.3 million in a case of optometric malpractice.
· In 1988, Mr. Dickieson was the senior government attorney assigned to the largest civil tax fraud case up to that time – In re Conti-Commodity Corp. – involving billions of dollars of phantom commodity trades intended to generate tax losses for commodities speculators.
RECOGNITION
Mr. Dickieson has been selected to the list of “Super Lawyers” for every year from 2012-2024. This selection is based on an evaluation of 12 indicators, including peer recognition and professional achievement in legal practice.
For over 35 years, Mr. Dickieson has received the highest possible rating of “AV” by his peers based on legal excellence and ethics as determined by the Martindale-Hubbell attorney rating organization. Mr. Dickieson has also received the Department of Justice Outstanding Achievement Award for tax litigation.
Mr. Dickieson is active in community programs and pro bono legal activities. He has served for over ten years on the Board of Directors of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, an organization on the forefront of fighting for civil rights in courtrooms across the country. He has also served on the advisory board of SquashEmpower – a non-profit organization which combines academic tutoring with coaching in the sport of squash for urban middle school children. Mr. Dickieson has spearheaded numerous pro bono legal activities.
As an avid squash player, Mr. Dickieson was among the first four alumni inducted into the Cornell University Varsity Squash Team’s Hall of Fame in 2018. Mr. Dickieson was Cornell’s top squash player from 1975 to 1977 and is a co-founder of the Friends of Cornell University Squash (FOCUS).