Jonathane Ricci, ’98:
and partner leverage interest in U.S. tax law to open Toronto cross-border practice

Jonathane Ricci wanted to be a lawyer from the time he was a high school student in North Bay, Ontario, and he saw no reason why an international border should be an obstacle. He left his native Canada to attend law school at MSU-DCL and today is a partner in his own cross-border law practice in Toronto.

BY EILEEN FORD, JD

Jonathane Ricci

Jonathane Ricci saw that his friends who were finishing their Canadian law degrees were struggling to find positions in a tight job market. He was doing his undergraduate studies in history and political science at the University of Windsor and didn’t have to look very far south of the border for an alternative. The direction his career would take was determined in his second year of law school, with the basic income tax course then taught by Professor Alvin Storrs.

“He created a monster,” laughs Ricci, “I fell in love with U.S. tax law.” He took all the tax law courses he could, earning a concentration of credits in that area and then decided to pursue a master’s degree in tax. At Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., he earned an LLM in U.S. tax with an emphasis on international taxation.

After Georgetown, he began work as a U.S. tax specialist in the Toronto offices of KPMG, one of the “big four” accounting houses worldwide. “I should have been content,” confesses Ricci. He was with a top accounting firm back in Ontario, earning a very comfortable salary and doing work that interested him, but a piece of the puzzle was missing.

Since his employer was not a law firm, he was constrained from engaging in the practice of law. If the tax plan he proposed to a client involved, for example, setting up a U.S. corporation, he couldn’t provide the client with that service. The client would then have to find a U.S. attorney to prepare incorporation papers.

He began to have discussions with a colleague at KPMG, Henry Juroviesky, also a tax law specialist. Juroviesky was a U.S. citizen, was licensed in the state of Maryland as an attorney and CPA, and was a former chief counsel for the Internal Revenue Service in Washington. The talks were casual at first: the two shared ideas about what could be done in their own Canadian-based U.S. firm.

Soon the talks turned into weekend meetings and eventually, only one question remained: “Were we going to do it or not? It was a difficult decision,” recounts Ricci. “I had a secure position, and this step would definitely take me out of my comfort zone.”

Juroviesky and Ricci, L.L.P. opened its doors on January 7, 2003. The Upper Law Society of Canada has certified both partners as qualified foreign legal consultants. The firm specializes in U.S. corporate and tax law, and the attorneys’ projections about the market for their services appear to be accurate. Although some large U.S.-based law firms have offices in Toronto, their fees are beyond what many small and medium-sized Canadian companies can afford. A small, Canadian-based firm charging Canadian dollars is a welcome alternative. Ricci is happy with the firm’s first quarter and sees every reason to remain optimistic. “There is such a demand here for U.S. legal expertise because so many Canadian companies want to take advantage of U.S. markets. We’re a one-stop shop for them.”

Although he maintains his membership in the Michigan Bar, Ricci seems happily ensconced in Toronto for now, venturing south of the border for the occasional training seminar or workshop. He is even able to maintain ties with law school colleagues right in his native Ontario through the Toronto alumni chapter club. Like Jonathane Ricci, these alumni have realized that their profession knows no boundaries.