Martin I. Eisenstein

MANAGING PARTNER

Martin Eisenstein is Managing Partner of Brann & Isaacson.  His current area of concentration is advice and counsel to, and litigation on behalf of, internet/direct marketers and IT service providers in connection with state and local tax and unclaimed property matters.  Marty was co-counsel for Wayfair, Overstock, and Newegg throughout the proceedings that led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on June 21, 2018—South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., 138 S.Ct. 2080 (2018).  He has represented internet retailers and other direct marketers in a number of cases in the last several years involving constitutional and federal and state statutory challenges to the states’ assessments of sales taxes, income taxes, and gross receipts taxes in Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming;  as amicus curiae on behalf of the DMA in the U.S. Supreme Court cases of Quill v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298 (1992) and D.H. Holmes Company, LTD, 486 U.S. 24 (1988); and representation of the companies in the following cases:  Newegg, Inc. v. State of Alabama Department of Revenue, Alabama Tax Tribunal (2018); Crutchfield, Inc. v. Testa, Supreme Court of Ohio (2016); AOL Inc. v. Department of Revenue, Washington Superior Court, No. 12-2-012005, July 26, 2013; AOL LLC v. Iowa Dep’t of Revenue, 771 N.W. 2d 404 (Iowa 2009); Random House, Inc. v. Div. of Taxation, 23 N.J. Tax 291 (2006); and L.L. Bean, Inc. v. Tax Assessor, 649 A.2d 331 (Me. 1994).

Marty regularly makes presentations on a variety of state and local use tax issues before organizations such as the ABA-IPT Advanced Tax Seminars, COST, Strafford Publications, and trade associations such as the American Catalog Mailers Association.  He is the author of several publications, including many articles in State Tax Notes for his firm’s quarterly column entitled Eyes on E-Commerce Law, of which he is a co-author.  The articles have included Chaos Theory:  The States’ Response to Wayfair (6/10/19); Wayfair and P.L. 86-272 in a Services Economy (11/5/18); Public Law 86-272:  Sunlight for a Cloud Service (5/21/18); Here, There, and Everywhere:  Constitutional Limits on IT Sourcing (11/27/17);  The L in SALT:  Limits on Local Jurisdiction to Tax (5/29/17); Where’s Waldo:  Sourcing IT and Cloud Services (8/8/16); Taxing Thin Air:  Cloud Computing Meets Limitless Jurisdiction (2/8/16); Transaction Taxes on Information Technologies:  The Threat (12/22/14); Let the Sunshine In: The Age of Cloud Computing (11/28/11). Marty has also been selected by his peers to appear in The Best Lawyers in America (2007 – 2019), and the New England “Super Lawyers” List (2007 – 2018), and co-authors a regular column on issues for the American Catalog Mailers Association.

Marty’s extensive background in business transactions has facilitated his representation and counseling of companies in connection with critical business events for the companies.

University of Illinois (B.S., with high honors, 1972; J.D., with distinction, 1975)
University of Stockholm, Sweden (Masters of Law, 1976)


Illinois
Maine
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals, First, Fourth, and Ninth Circuits
U.S. Tax Court
U.S. District Court, District of Maine
Androscoggin County, Maine State and American (Antitrust, Business Law and Taxation Sections) Bar Associations

Member, Order of the Coif
Certified Public Accountant, Illinois
Martindale AV Rating: 5.0
Super Lawyers (2007 – 2022)
The Best Lawyers in America®, Litigation & Controversy: Tax and Tax Law (2007 – 2019)
Benchmark Litigation, Local Litigation Star, Tax Litigation.

“It’s a Wayfair World Now and We All Have to Live In It,”  American Catalog Mailer’s Association, 2019 National Catalog Forum (April 8, 2019)
“The Nexus Conundrum in the Post-Wayfair World,” Advanced Sales/Use Tax Seminar, Institute for Professional Taxation (March 13, 2019)
“New Economic Presence Nexus Standards for Foreign Remote Sellers:  Impact of Wayfair Holding on Non-U.S. Companies,” Strafford Publishing webinar (February 5, 2019)
“Nexus Limitations and Protections for Service Providers Post-Wayfair,” Strafford Publishing webinar (February 2, 2019)
“State Sales Tax in the Digital Economy:  Navigating Electronic Taxability and the Factor Presence Rule,” Strafford Publishing webinar (February 10, 2016)
“State Sales And Transaction Taxes of IT Products and Services: Navigating the Evolving Landscape,” Strafford Publishing webinar (March 5, 2015)
“Transaction Taxes on Information Technologies: The Threat, State Tax Notes (December 22, 2014)
“Sampling in Sales Tax Audits,” Strafford Publishing webinar (December 9, 2014)
“Sales & Use Tax in Maine,” National Business Institute (September 17, 2014)
“Report from the front lines – Updates on the Nexus Battles,” IPT (2014)
“When State Sampling Methods Clash with Big, Bad Data,” IPT (2013)
“Tackling Direct Mail Advertising and Sales Tax Current Challenges,” Strafford Publishing Webinar (August 28, 2013)
“Sampling Strategies in Sales Tax Audits,” Strafford Publishing Webinar (August 7, 2013)
“Sales and Use Tax on Digital Products and Services in 2013,” Strafford Publishing Webinar (February 12, 2013)
“Direct Mail Advertising and Sales Tax Challenges: Latest Developments with Differing State Policies,” Strafford Publishing Webinar (August 23, 2012)
“Sales & Use Tax on Digital Products and Services,” Strafford Publishing Webinar (March 1, 2012)
“Let the Sunshine In: The Age of Cloud Computing,” State Tax Notes (November 28, 2011)
“Sales Tax on Information Services: Navigating Aggressive State Policies” (August 11, 2011)
“The Right Question on the Nexus Standard for Gross Receipts Taxes,” State Tax Notes (February 7, 2011)
Faculty: “Accounting 101 For Lawyers,” National Business Institute (September 22, 2009)
Faculty: “Legal Considerations for Online Marketers,” University of Virginia, Darden School For Business (April 30, 2008)
Past Chair, Federal and State Tax Section, Maine Bar Association
Past Member of Governor’s Judicial Selection Committee
“Interstate or Intrastate: Taxability of Telecommunications,” State Tax Notes (November 12, 2007)
“Guide to Maine Taxes,” Tax Analysts – Baedeker (2001)
“Defending Against Affiliate Nexus in Sales and Use Tax Cases,” Journal of Multistate Taxation 24 (1996)
“Interstate Promotional Mailings Need Not Be Subject to Use Tax, Despite Holmes,” 4 Journal of Multistate Taxation 251 (1995)


Past Chair of the Board of Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority
Past Member of Board of Directors of St. Mary’s Health System
Past Chair of Board of Directors, Lewiston Auburn Economic Growth Council
Founder, Cedar Beach Cedar Island Supporters, Inc.
Past Chair of Central Maine Community Foundation Board
Past Chair of LA Arts Board
Print Friendly, PDF & Email