The Tax Times: Marini & Associates, PA Traces its Roots Back to AA&Co

On 10/26/2017 I had the opportunity to go back to my roots at Arthur Andersen & Co. (AA&Co), which I get to do every other year, by being a sponsor of and attending AA&Co's South Florida's Semi-Annual Alumni Reunion.

For those of you who don't know what I did before opening up our International & Tax Litigation Boutique 25 years ago (1993-Present); I was with AA&Co. for 11 years prior to that, in their Miami, Florida office (1982-1992).

While there I had the wonderful opportunity of learning my vocation from some of the best in the business like Ivan Fagan, the firm's Real Estate Syndication Expert and Larry Levine, the Miami Offices resident Tax Genius, not to mention my long-term mentor and colleague Bill Pruitt, who was Office Managing Partner during the years that I worked at AA&Co.

Since most of my clients where large multinationals, I had the opportunity over 11 years to learn some of the most advanced international planning techniques and then I had the opportunity to defend many of them before the IRS; which resulted in me being listed as 1 of 15 International Tax Specialist in AA&Co.’s Worldwide Directory and it also allowed me to teach annually at the firm's US Taxation of Multinational Activities in St. Charles, Illinois, along size such International Tax Giants as Andre Fogarasi, Richard Gordon, Diane Renfroe, and many, many, others Top International Tax Attorneys.

One day in the mid-1980s, while I was looking out our Miami office"s windows on the 21st floor, it became readily apparent that Miami was rapidly becoming the International Cruise Capital of the world and as a man in his late 20s, I was determined to get a piece of it. So we start targeting and obtained numerous international cruise lines, as clients of the firm. As a result of defending numerous international cruise lines clients, during the IRS Cruise Industry Tax Audits in the late 1980s, I also became 1 of 5 International Shipping Specialist for AA&Co in the US.

During my time with AA&Co, Arthur Andersen’s South Florida practice held a dominant position over that of the other international accounting firms.

Its three practice units, Tax - Audit & Consulting, were consistently among the most profitable within the firm (based on profit per professional).

The South Florida Practice had the Largest Share of Publicly-Held Clients and, because of its High Quality Service, it rarely lost a Client. A few of the long-time clients of the South Florida practice that remained clients until they were sold, or Andersen ceased business, included: Blockbuster Entertainment, AutoNation, IVAX Corporation, The Wackenhut Corporation, Southeast Toyota, KOS Pharmaceuticals, Republic Services, Sunglass Hut International, Steifel Laboratories, Watsco Corporation. Not to mention the numerous large closely held corporations, rivaling in size and sales, the above-mentioned publicly traded companies.

I left AA&Co on December 31, 1992 and 10 years later in June 2002, Andersen was found guilty of obstruction of justice for shredding documents relating to the audits of Enron Corporation. Andersen was forced to surrender its licenses to practice and in June 2002 the South Florida practice was effectively ended.

In May 2005, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously reversed the conviction, however, it was too late for what had once been the most successful professional services firm in the world with 85,000 personnel and over $10 billion in revenue.

While at Andersen, we professionals were constantly challenged to improved our skills. The network of Andersen alumni in South Florida is still strong even though the firm ceased business in 2002. Many alumni are among the business elite in their local communities.

1988

Me & Kevin Lockwood of AA&Co, on my Client Sea Escape's Vessel.

30 Years Latter - 2018

Me (Marini & Associates, PA),
Kevin Lockwood (Forshee & Lockwood PA (CPA's)) &
David W. Appel (Cherry Bekaert, (CPA's))

We 3 work in the same 10 person cubicle workspace at AA&Co in the 1980's.

Remember When You Have an International

IRS Tax Problem