March 2000

Former IRS Commissioner To Discuss MDPs at Society Dinner

Former Internal Revenue Services Commissioner Margaret Milner Richardson will speak on "Multidisciplinary Practices: The Wave of the Future?" at the Society's Annual Election Meeting and Dinner on Tuesday, May 9, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.

After serving as IRS commissioner from 1993 to 1997, Richardson joined Ernst & Young LLP in Washington, D.C., where she advises the firm's largest clients on domestic and global tax issues. She is an attorney with a background in tax and financial services. She will discuss the trend toward practices where CPAs, attorneys, and other professionals partner and share fees.

"Richardson is on the front lines of one of the hottest issues in the profession," NYSSCPA Executive Director Louis Grumet said. "Our board recently approved a Society task force report that recommends exploring MDPs. We are thrilled to have someone with Richardson's background shed light on this issue."

At the IRS, Richardson worked to provide taxpayers with better service to make it easier for them to obtain information, file returns, and make payments. The Financial Women's Association named her woman of the year and she also received the Federal Bar Association Taxation Section's Kenneth Liles Distinguished Service Award, among other honors.

Richardson is the keynote speaker at the NYSSCPA dinner, which will also include the election of the 20002001 Society officers and directors and presentation of awards to Society members, the financial press, accounting students, and others in the profession. *