Nick Scarfone

Nick concentrates his practice on planning and implementing tax-driven structures and transactions. A tax lawyer and certified public accountant, he works with clients to assess their financial positions and align tax planning with their business objectives. He is co-chair of the firm’s Tax Practice Area.

His work spans joint ventures; mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures; executive-compensation arrangements; tax-driven real estate transactions; and debt restructurings. Nick reviews financial statements and business plans to identify financial concerns and address related legal issues. He also works closely with accounting departments at large organizations, including major universities, on compliance with complex tax and other legal requirements.

Nick negotiates tax settlements for individual and business clients. He also supports other firm attorneys on tax matters, drawing on his experience working with federal, state, and local government agencies.

• Negotiated and drafted complex partnership agreements for entrepreneurs using various funding arrangements.
• Structured and negotiated complex tax credit deals for institutional and individual clients.
• Negotiated and drafted deferred compensation arrangements for several high-profile clients.
• Drafted and reviewed documentation related to complex mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, financing transactions, and employment matters.
• Structured and implemented business ventures and reorganizations for large companies.
• Advised real estate investors on a variety of complex and cutting-edge tax-free exchanges. Executed those exchanges by drafting tax-safe harbor agreements and navigating clients through relationships with third-parties, including lenders and intermediaries.
• Structured and implemented highly complex wealth-transfer arrangements, including family partnerships and LLCs and tax-planning trusts.
• Successfully resolved multiple federal and state tax controversies for individual and business clients, saving significant tax costs.
• Reviewed player contracts and other due diligence items, ensured antitrust law compliance, and assisted in the planning and execution of a letter of intent for the acquisition of a major league baseball team by the owner of a National Football League team.
• Navigated the complicated ownership rules of the NFL to devise a tax-friendly estate plan for a team owner and his family.
• Advising a client on the tax implications of operating an industrial hemp business.

• Syracuse University College of Law, JD
• St. John Fisher College, BS, Magna Cum Laude

Admitted to Practice

• New York

Court Admissions

• US Tax Court

• The Best Lawyers in America®: Rochester "Lawyer of the Year": Tax Law, 2026
• The Best Lawyers in America®: Corporate Law, 2024–2027; Tax Law, 2021–2027; Trusts and Estates, 2027
• The Daily Record and Rochester Business Journal, Tax Law Power List, 2024