Professional Profiles
Gerald W. Kelly, Jr.
Gerald W. Kelly, Jr. has devoted his legal career to representing clients entangled in major disputes with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”). He has extensive experience in collection and examination cases and has represented many taxpayers before the IRS Independent Office of Appeals on those issues, as well. Mr. Kelly also defends clients against criminal tax charges.
Mr. Kelly represents clients involved in litigation before the U.S. Tax Court, where he has tried numerous cases and settled many more. Mr. Kelly has also argued before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In the U.S. District Courts, Mr. Kelly has represented clients involved in a wide variety of civil and criminal matters.
Mr. Kelly began his professional career with the IRS in 1991, where he was assigned to field offices in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. As a Revenue Officer, Mr. Kelly was responsible for civil investigations and enforcement actions. Mr. Kelly was also trained as an Offer in Compromise Examiner and evaluated settlement proposals submitted by individual and corporate taxpayers. Mr. Kelly, moreover, was selected to secure delinquent tax debts and returns from IRS employees in the Washington, D.C. area.
While in law school, Mr. Kelly was a paralegal specialist/law clerk with the United States Department of Justice, where he supported attorneys engaged in complex civil cases at trial and on appeal. While there, Mr. Kelly received a Special Achievement Award from Attorney General Janet Reno. Mr. Kelly is a graduate of the University of Maryland, B.A., and the University of Baltimore, J.D. He has completed graduate coursework in accounting and is presently a CPA candidate.
Mr. Kelly was interviewed on ABC News concerning IRS procedures and has also provided commentary to Fox Business Network, CNN, USA Today, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post, The Washington Times and other major news sources. Mr. Kelly has been a guest lecturer on IRS controversies at the University of Baltimore and the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service. He has also taught continuing legal education courses for the National Business Institute.
In addition to obtaining successful results for his clients, Mr. Kelly is an active member of his legal community. In 2008, he received the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS) Educator of the Year Award. He also served on the MVLS 30th Anniversary Benefit Committee in 2011. An active member of the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA), he served as the Chair of the Section of Taxation in 2018. Moreover, he was the recipient of the MSBA J. Ronald Shiff Memorial Pro Bono Award in 2010. Mr. Kelly is rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest possible rating that an attorney can receive. In 2016, he received the Lee A. Caplan Award for his longstanding commitment to pro bono service and ensuring equal access to justice. The award was presented by the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland. Mr. Kelly is also an active member of the International Bar Association and was recently a speaker on criminal sentencing in the United States at a conference held in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
Bar Admissions
International
- International Criminal Court – List of Counsel
Federal
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. Tax Court
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. Court of International Trade
State
- Supreme Court of Maryland