Lougee, Richard L.

John Lopez is a member of our Estate Planning, Estate Administration and Asset Preservation Tax Group, as well as the Business and Tax Law Group. His practice includes estate planning and probate, tax planning (estate and income taxes), matters related to corporate and business law and the representation of taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service. A 1978 graduate of Florida State University, he received his Juris Doctor Degree from the Florida State University College of Law in 1983. He was awarded a Masters of Law in Taxation Degree (LL.M.) from the University of Florida in 1985. Mr. Lopez has an AV Rating* by Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest Peer Review Rating attainable.

He is the author of Defining "Trade or Business" Under the Internal Revenue Code: A Survey of Relevant Cases (Florida State University Law Review, 1984), which has been cited by the United States Supreme Court (Groetzinger v. Commissioner, 87-1 USTC Para. 9191 (1987)) and co-author of Generation-Skipping Transfers After the Technical Corrections Bill (Florida Bar Journal, December, 1988).

Mr. Lopez is board certified in Wills, Trusts and Estates Law as well as in Tax Law by the Florida Bar, and is a member of the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council and the Tax Section of the Florida Bar. He is also currently serving as the President of the Board of Directors of the Pines of Sarasota Foundation, Inc., President of the Board of Directors of the All Faiths Food Bank, a member of the Boards of the Cordelia Lee Beatie Foundation and the Sarasota County Foundation and on the Advisory Board of the Sarasota Education Foundation.

*AV Preeminent (4.5 - 5.0) - An AV certification mark is a significant rating accomplishment - a testament to the fact that a lawyer's peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence.