User:Jcurtis595/sandbox

John J. (Jay) Curtis, Esq. John J. (Jay) Curtis (Born 1942) is an attorney admitted to practice law in California, Illinois and West Virginia, actively practicing in California. Education: JD, West Virginia University College of Law (1967) Selected to Law Review; BA in Economics, West Virginia University (1964) Selected to and President of Omicron Delta Epsilon, National Honorary in Economics; Selected to Helvetia Undergraduate Academic Honorary. For three years Mr. Curtis was Chief Counsel and Assistant Director of the West Virginia State Tax Department where he was in charge of reorganizing the legal and tax appeals function of that department. Also as Assistant Director he supervised the in-office and field audit functions and was responsible for creating a program to settle hundreds of tax deficiencies without appeal raising over one hundred million dollars over a period of thirteen months. For thirteen years he was Chief Tax Counsel and Director of Taxation of Pacific Enterprises (later taken over by Sempra Energy). He served as the Chairman of the American Gas Association Tax Committee and Chairman of the American Gas Association Legislative Subcommittee, in which capacity he repeatedly testified on behalf of the gas industry before the Senate Finance and House Ways & Means Committees. Among his achievements for Southern California Gas Company (a subsidiary of Pacific Enterprise) he obtained an amendment to the Internal Revenue Code preventing the loss of half a billion dollars in tax credits and other tax benefits due Southern California Gas Company and California ratepayers thus ending a dispute between Congress and the California CPUC over utility tax accounting in rates. For his work for the American Gas Association he was awarded their Outstanding Service Award. Mr. Curtis also served on the California Taxpayers Association Board of Directors for sixteen years, serving on its Executive Committee for sixteen years and as President for two years. In this capacity he was Chairman and chief spokesperson for the statewide ballot initiative “No on Prop. 36” committee debating Howard Jarvis and others to successfully defeat this initiative at the ballot. For his public service and his public advocacy efforts, Mr. Curtis received commendations from the California Supervisors Association, the League of California Cities, the City of Los Angeles, and the County of Los Angeles. Mr. Curtis joined the law firm of Baker & Hostetler as a partner where he practiced law for seven years, specializing in state and local taxation. He represented over a hundred corporate and individual taxpayers in property and other tax appeals. When the Nordlinger case sought to overturn Prop. 13 (Article XIII of the California Constitution) in the US Supreme Court, Mr. Curtis was hired by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association to assist and coordinate in Prop 13’s defense before the United States Supreme Court where the defense team was successful in defending Prop. 13. As a utility tax and accounting expert, Mr. Curtis was engaged as a consultant to the City of Austin, Texas, in a lawsuit involving Austin’s joint project to build a nuclear powering plant with its Texas utility partner. Mr. Curtis assistance helped settle the law suit. Mr. Curtis also served in the United States Navy Reserve as a Lieutenant Commander in the Judge Advocate General Corp. For his military service he was awarded the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Award of Excellence. Mr. Curtis presently practices law in his own practice in Orange County, California and is presently exclusively engaged as a consultant to the Orange County Assessor’s Office. Mr. Curtis has also published a novel (The Code by Jay Curtis), a contemporary action-adventure science fiction story.