George S. Isaacson

SENIOR PARTNER

George Isaacson represents multi–channel marketers and electronic merchants throughout the United States in connection with state sales, use, and income tax matters, as well as regulatory issues.

He is tax counsel to industry trade associations and represented the Direct Marketing Association before the United States Supreme Court in DMA v. Brohl (2015). He regularly appears in federal and state courts throughout the country on behalf of catalog and e-commerce companies and was lead counsel for Wayfair, Overstock, and Newegg before the U.S. Supreme Court in South Dakota v. Wayfair (2018). George has testified before Senate and House committees regarding tax reform legislation and has provided similar testimony before state legislative committees.

He also represented the Direct Marketing Association in negotiations with state governors to simplify and standardize state sales/use tax systems and was DMA’s representative on the Steering Committee for the National Tax Association’s Project on Taxation of Electronic Commerce. He has authored numerous articles on direct marketing law issues and was named by State Tax Notes as one of the “top 10 individuals who influenced tax policy and practices.” George is co–author of a regularly published column in Tax Notes entitled “Eyes on eCom Law,” as well as a member of the Tax Notes Advisory Board. State Tax Notes named him its Person of the Year for 2016 (see attached article).

George speaks frequently before business groups and trade associations regarding taxation of interstate transactions and electronic commerce. Such speaking engagements have included the National Press Club, National Institute for State and Local Taxation, Institute on Federal Taxation, Paul J. Hartman State & Local Tax Forum, New York State Society of CPAs, The Conference Board (Conference on Advanced E–Commerce Tax Policy), Committee on State Taxation (COST), Institute of Finance & Management, Boston Bar Association, Multistate Tax Commission, the American Bar Association- Section on Taxation, the Congressional Internet Caucus Academy, and the Harvard Law School symposium presented by the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology.

Outside of his law practice, George is a faculty member at Bowdoin College where he has taught courses on Constitutional Law for over 30 years. He has also been actively involved in Maine’s civic community, with service as Chairman of the Board of the state’s largest healthcare system (MaineHealth) and Vice Chair of the state’s public television and radio broadcasting system (Maine Public). His leisure activities include fly fishing, kayaking, and reading stories to grandchildren.