John Gaggini is counsel in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and is based in the Firm's Chicago office. He focuses his practice on state and local taxation on a national basis, concentrating his practice in the areas of income, sales/use tax and abandoned property/escheat matters. He counsels multi-state and multinational businesses on tax and abandoned property planning opportunities. He has worked extensively with state agencies in negotiating settlements of disputes in these areas.
John has litigated the constitutionality of state tax provisions, was lead counsel in the Quill Corporation case wherein the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the requirement of “physical presence” in order for states to tax direct marketers, and is currently working with various mail-order and insurance companies and financial institutions regarding the jurisdiction of states to tax and regulate interstate business activities.
An adjunct professor in the IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law Graduate Tax Program, John has served as chairman of the State and Local Tax Committee of the Chicago Bar Association. He frequently lectures on state tax programs sponsored by institutions for continuing legal and accounting education and other groups, including TEI, COST, NTA-TIA, the Chicago Tax Club, the National Institute on State and Local Taxation, the Direct Sellers Association and the Direct Marketing Association.
John is a member of the Illinois and District of Columbia bars and the American, Illinois and Chicago bar associations. He is also a certified public accountant.
Education
- DePaul University College of Law, J.D. (magna cum laude), 1975
- New York University School of Law, LL.M., 1976
- Ohio State University, M.S., 1972
- Knox College, B.A., 1971
