Eric J. Coffill

He counsels clients on state and local tax controversy and litigation matters at the administrative, trial, and appellate levels, particularly those involving the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) and the California Department of Tax & Fee Administration. His practice includes advising high-net-worth individuals on their most significant matters, including California residency and sourcing issues. 

Eric is the principal author of more than 100 articles on a variety of state tax topics and is a co-author of the Bloomberg Tax California Corporation Income Tax Navigator and the Bloomberg Tax California Pass-Through Entity Navigator. He also serves on the advisory boards of Tax Notes State and the Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives. 

Eric has been consistently recognized annually as one of the country’s leading tax practitioners by, among others, Chambers USA (Band 1), The Legal 500 US, and Best Lawyers in America. He is a frequent speaker at national tax conferences, including those sponsored by COST, TEI, IPT and the California Lawyers Association. He serves on the 2022-2023 State Tax Committee of CalCPA, the California Society of CPAs. He served as a state and local tax adjunct professor at UOP McGeorge School of Law for nearly 10 years, and has taught corporate multistate income/franchise tax for the University of California (MLK Law School Davis) annually since 1991. 

Eric served as a member of the Juvenile Justice Committee of the State Bar of California and as a member of the Standing Committee on Legal Services to Prisoners, Legal Services Committee, of the State Bar of California. He received an Award for Exceptional Contributions for Delivery of Legal Services to Prisoners from the Legal Services section of the State Bar of California; the Benjamin F. Miller Award from the Tax Section of State Bar of California; and is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Association.

Before assuming his current role in 2016, Eric was a tax partner in the Sacramento office of Morrison & Foerster LLP for over 20 years and served as the managing partner of the Sacramento office for 13 years.  Before that, Eric worked in the FTB Legal Division for approximately 10 years. Before that, Eric began his career as a criminal defense trial/appellate attorney.