New Jersey Tax Conference (E1811550)

Jim is a shareholder at Kulzer & DiPadova, P.A. He is admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court, is a member of the Bar of the State of New Jersey, and is a member of the Camden County Bar Association, the New Jersey Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Jim is a member of the tax sections of the NJBA and the ABA. In addition, he is a former president of the NJCPA, and has served as chairperson of the State Taxation Interest Group. He is a past president of the Southwest Jersey Chapter Board of Directors. Jim is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and serves on AICPA Council, its governing body. He is also a member of the New Jersey Tax and Fiscal Policy Commission and chaired the New Jersey Corporation Business Tax Review Commission.

Susan A. Feeney, Esq., is a partner with the law firm of McCarter & English. Ms. Feeney's practice concentrates in the areas of state taxation and local property taxation. She is admitted to the Bars of the states of New Jersey and New York and is a member of the Essex County, New Jersey and American Bar associations and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Additionally, Ms. Feeney is a member of the Sales and Use Tax Review Commission of the State of New Jersey. She lectures frequently on the subject of state taxes and local property taxes to civic and professional groups and is an adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University in the master’s of taxation program.

Ms. Feeney graduated summa cum laude from Fordham Law School and holds an undergraduate degree from Seton Hall University. She has considerable experience in litigating tax appeal cases involving office complexes, hotel, data centers, golf course properties and manufacturing facilities. Ms. Feeney’s expertise in New Jersey sales and use tax law frequently provides planning strategies for clients in the sales and use tax areas.

John Ficara has been functioning as the Director of the New Jersey Division of Taxation since January 4, 2016. The Director oversees a staff of more than 1,400 who are responsible for the administration, enforcement and collection of 42 individual and business tax types in the State of New Jersey. John was previously Director of Tax and Tax Counsel for Columbus McKinnon Corporation, a Buffalo based global manufacturer of material handling equipment. He also was Corporate Tax Counsel for BASF, a German based global chemical manufacturing company, with US operations based in Florham Park, New Jersey. He has over four decades of experience as a tax professional, including seven years with Ernst & Young, and he has been an Adjunct Professor of Tax in the Fairleigh Dickinson University Graduate Tax program. A licensed Certified Public Accountant and Attorney, John earned his Law Degree from the Fordham University School of Law, and his Master’s in Tax law Degree from the NYU Graduate Law School.

Christina started with the Division in 2007 in the Customer Service Call Center. During her 8 years in the Division’s Customer Service center she gained a vast knowledge of all taxes and programs administered by the Division. She assisted not only the taxpayers of New Jersey during her time in the Customer Service center but also the practitioners and business community through the Pratitioner Hotline. Christina joined Taxation University in 2015 where she became a strong part of our employee training program and continued to assist the practitioners and business communities by providing valuable tax information through seminars and education. In April of 2020 Christina moved to the Office of Legislative Analysis to assist in navigating the legislation that impacts the Division. As of the spring of 2023 Christina is the newest addition to the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate. Christina has served on various projects over the course of her career including the planning and implementation of the Division first ever New Hire Boot Camp training program in 2017, the Intergrated Tax System training plan implementation, and most recently the ANCHOR Program advertising and outreach campaign. Christina’s tax knowledge, customer service experience, and project management skill set is a strong assest to the Division of Taxation. Christina is a loving mother of three and an avid baker.

David J. Shipley is a Partner at McCarter & English, LLP. His practice includes representing clients in state tax controversies before administrative boards and courts throughout the country, providing multistate tax advice regarding business operations, assisting clients in developing and implementing multistate tax planning and advising clients on the state tax aspects of corporate mergers and acquisitions. He provides advice to clients regarding state corporate income, franchise, sales and use, personal income and realty transfer taxes. He also provides advice to clients regarding unclaimed property and unemployment compensation issues.

Mr. Shipley is a frequent speaker on multistate tax topics for many organizations including the Georgetown Advanced State and Local Tax Institute, the New York University Institute on State and Local Taxation, the Institute of Professionals in Taxation, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America – State Tax Committee, the Broadband Tax Institute, local chapters of the Tax Executives Institute, the Wall Street Tax Association - State and Local Tax Committee, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, and the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants. Additionally, he has published state tax articles in State Tax Notes, the American Bar Association's The State and Local Tax Lawyer, and CCH's State Tax Review. David also is the general editor of the New Jersey and Pennsylvania sections of a forthcoming state tax research product from Lexis/Nexis.