Stephen Abanise has a wide range of experiences within the criminal justice system and law enforcement investigations. He serves as a Senior Trial Attorney at the IRS, Office of Chief Counsel in Laguna Niguel, California, where he litigates federal court cases involving fraud, disputed tax deficiencies, and collection and refund matters in collaboration with the Department of Justice. Prior to becoming a trial attorney, he served as an Estate and Gift Tax Attorney within the Small Business/Self Employed Division of the Internal Revenue Service, where he examined and investigated the estate and gift tax returns of high net-worth individuals and families. Stephen has completed law clerkships with both the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office Post-Conviction Litigation and Discovery Division, and the Healthcare Fraud Division.
Stephen earned a JD from the Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law, where he was named to the Order of the Barristers of the Moot Court Society. During law school, he represented the law school nationally at the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court competition in Chicago, Illinois, where he was a semi-finalist. He also earned a Master of Health Administration (MHA) degree from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he was inducted into Upsilon Phi Delta Honor Society, and a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Southern California. Stephen is admitted to the State Bar of California.
More Info