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Areas of Practice include:
Tax Certiorari
Commercial and Municipal
Litigation
Real Estate
Richard P. James, a partner at Mackenzie Hughes LLP, has litigated tax
certiorari, complex commercial and municipal disputes for over twenty
years.
In the tax certiorari arena, Rick has represented municipalities and
private land owners throughout New York State in over 150 different Supreme
Court proceedings involving assessments in excess of one million dollars.
He has experience with the taxation, assessment and valuation of manufacturing,
retail, office, utility, banking, nursing home and numerous other property
types.
Rick has served as special legal counsel to the County of Onondaga, the
Cities of Syracuse, Cortland, Binghamton and Oswego, and numerous towns,
school districts and public authorities throughout New York State. He
has defended scores of assessments on behalf of municipalities.
On behalf of private companies and individuals, he has secured tax exemptions
and multi-million dollar assessment reductions, saving his clients millions
of dollars in tax liability.
In addition to his tax practice, Rick has litigated cases in State and
Federal Courts on behalf of municipalities, contractors, sureties, financial
institutions and inventors.
He graduated with High Honors from Onondaga Community College, summa
cum laude from the State University of New York at Geneseo and magna cum
laude from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law.
While in law school, Richard received the State and Local Government Award,
served as Publications Editor for the Buffalo Law Review and published
an article on governmental immunity.
He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1990 and is a member of
the American, New York State, Onondaga County and Oswego County Bar Associations.
Rick has served his home town as Town Justice and as Chairman of its
Zoning Board of Appeals. He was appointed by two successive Chief Judges
of New York State's highest court to serve on the Board of Trustees of
the New York State Lawyer Assistance Trust.
In his spare time he enjoys his family and motor sports, especially riding
Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
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