Lisa M. Starczewski

How Lisa Helps Clients

Lisa Starczewski is a trusted business advisor who focuses her practice on several areas of transactional tax law. She works closely with pass-throughs, corporate and real estate clients in structuring business transactions, drafting tax provisions, and solving complex tax issues. Lisa is a nationally recognized thought leader on Opportunity Zones. Because of Lisa’s reputation for listening carefully to clients and providing smart, clear, and actionable answers to tough questions, she has become the principal client relationship manager and team leader for one of the firm’s largest institutional clients. She is chair of the firm's Tax section, chair of the Opportunity Zones Practice Team and a member of the firm's Board of Directors. She also serves as the executive sponsor for the firm's P.R.I.D.E. affinity group. 

Lisa is well known for her exceptional tax-technical understanding. She is a prolific author and speaker on a variety of tax topics. Prior to joining Buchanan, she practiced tax law with global and national full-service firms. She was also self-employed as a tax consultant and writer/speaker. From 1997 to 1999, Lisa was a developer at Tax Management, Inc., where she focused on efforts to integrate tax and technology to add interactivity and web-based delivery to its educational products.

What Clients Can Expect

To Lisa, the two most important elements of her work are the relationships that she develops with clients and colleagues and the opportunity to help clients by employing “cutting edge” knowledge of new and existing tax rules to deliver efficient, focused and meaningful solutions. Lisa is a great advocate, easy to talk to, and an effective presenter, who – according to client accounts – consistently exceeds expectations.

Providing the level of service my clients need means merging deep tax knowledge with an equally deep understanding of their business goals.

Proof Points

• Lisa has guided real estate developers, fund managers, investors, municipalities and nonprofits through the new Opportunity Zone tax program, structuring transactions that meet the complex tax requirements and navigating the many open issues with respect to the rules. Lisa wrote the seminal article on the proposed regulations, "The Eagerly Awaited Opportunity Zone Regulations: What Do they Tell Us and What Do We Still Need to Figure Out?," published on October 22, 2018 in Daily Tax Report. She has been quoted by The New York Times, Bloomberg Tax, Bisnow and several other notable news media.
• Lisa serves as the Technical Director of the Bloomberg Tax Portfolios and has authored several Portfolios herself, which are highly respected as the “go-to” resource on tax law. Her titles include, among others, T.M. 714: “Partnerships – Allocation of Liabilities; Basis Rules” and T.M. 565: “Installment Sales.”
• Bloomberg Tax Management Portfolios are written by the nation’s leading federal tax authorities and are often cited in federal tax cases as containing the most persuasive thinking on critical tax topics. She has also written portfolios on the at-risk rules, real estate leases, IRS National Office Procedure, alternative minimum tax, scholarship & educational expenses, and deductibility of legal fees.
• Lisa has received the Tax Management Distinguished Author Award and is the chair of the new Tax Management Pass-Through Entities Advisory Board.
• Lisa has served as a member of the adjunct faculty at Villanova University School of Law, where she taught courses in the graduate tax program.
• Lisa authored, "No Risk, No Reward: New Pass-through Rules Significantly Limit the Usefulness of Leveraged Partnerships and Bottom Dollar Guarantees," 10/15/2016
• Lisa was named Taxation Lawyer of the Year in the U.S. by Finance Monthly Magazine in 2019.
• Lisa was recognized as a Federal Tax Portfolio Author of the Year by Bloomberg Tax & Accounting in 2021.

Outside the Office

When not guiding clients through thorny tax issues, Lisa may often be found following and sharing her passion for the theater. She sings, acts, teaches performing arts and musical theater, and has founded a nonprofit community theater to provide performing arts education. She is married with five children whom she homeschooled; and she says that if she were not a practicing attorney, she would be a college professor.