L.G. Brooks, EA
L.G. Brooks is an enrolled agent and is Senior Consultant at The Tax Practice, Inc., a Dallas, TX representation firm.  He has been in the field of taxation for more than 25 years and has been in practice full time since 1990. L.G.’s areas of practice include tax representation, tax consulting, tax preparation and pre-Tax Court litigation support services.  A popular speaker, L.G. presents to numerous tax and accounting societies and addressed attendees at several annual IRS Nationwide Tax Forums.

L.G. received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bishop College in Dallas, Texas. He is a Fellow of NTPI and has been a faculty member for eight years.

Sherrill Gregory Trovato, EA, MBA, MST, USTCP
Sherrill Gregory, an NTPI Fellow, specializes in tax controversy representation and is the principal of her own firm, located in Yorba Linda, CA. A non-attorney admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court, Sherrill has authored articles in CCH’s Journal of Tax Practice and Procedure and NAEA’s EA Journal. Having passed the SEE on her first attempt, Sherrill now teaches Preparing to Practice before the US Tax Court to a student body that reports an impressive pass rate. Sherrill is the current NAEA Secretary/Treasurer and earned a BA (Business Administration/Accounting), MBA (Finance), and MS (Taxation) at California State University.

Howard Levy, Esq.
Howard Levy is a former IRS trial attorney and is currently a partner in the Cincinnati, OH law firm of Voorhees and Levy LLC.  For 20 years his practice has been concentrated on IRS tax controversies, with emphasis on representation before the Collection Division and the use of bankruptcy to resolve IRS problems.  Howard has a degree in Finance from Ohio State University, a law degree and a Master of Laws degree in Taxation from Boston University.  He is a frequent speaker to EAs and has authored numerous articles on the IRS for professional journals.

Andrew A. Okapal
Andy recently retired from the IRS after a 35-year career. His broad experience includes many years in the trenches as a bag-carrying Revenue Officer in the Collection Division and seven years as a Settlement Officer in the Appeals Office. Andy also served as the District Director’s Representative in various offices and was the Collection Division’s Abusive Trust Coordinator for the State of Ohio.

Andy has significant experience as an instructor, having led IRS collection training classes from basic courses on tax basis to advanced technical training courses. In addition, he participated in course development work for the national training publication on abusive tax avoidance transactions.

Helen P. O'Planick, EA
Helen O'Planick, known in certain circles as “the E-File Guru,” is the owner of HELJAN Associates, LLC, in York, Pennsylvania. HELJAN serves business and individual clients with write-up, payroll, tax preparation, financial and representation services. An enrolled agent since 1994, Helen served on ETAAC, the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee, and was team leader of the now defunct "Tax Experts" on AOL. She is a Fellow of NTPI and served as past president of the Pennsylvania Society of Enrolled Agents and as an NAEA director. Helen has been active in the TCE/VITA program since 1984.

Sandra A. Peterson, CPA
Sandra has more than 20 years experience in taxation. As a former IRS revenue agent, she received thorough training and gained extensive experience in the auditing of federal income tax returns of individuals, small (Schedule C) businesses, corporations and partnerships. Sandra’s specialized training from the IRS included areas such as fraud and the auditing of bars/restaurants, auto dealers and marketing firms.

Since retiring from the IRS in 2005, Sandra has launched a successful CPA practice and specializes in IRS representation with a focus on exam.

David Robison, EA
David B. Robison, formerly National Chief of Appeals and a 32-year veteran of the IRS, is a Senior Advisor, Tax Resolution Strategies, in the New York and Washington, D.C. offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. While at the IRS, David served in a wide variety of positions, including postings in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia; District Director for the IRS International District; and management positions in northern California, Idaho, Minnesota, Massachusetts and New York. During 2005, he served as the IRS liaison to President Bush's Advisory Panel on Tax Reform.

David was a 2002 recipient of the Presidential Rank Award and a seven-time recipient of the Internal Revenue Service Commissioner's Award.

Theodore A. Sinars, Esq.
Theodore is a partner in the Chicago tax law firm of Madden, Jiganti, Moore and Sinars LLP. For over 40 years he has concentrated in the areas of IRS civil and criminal taxation, procedure and litigation. Mr. Sinars is an Adjunct Professor of Law, Master’s Tax Program, DePaul University Graduate School of Law. He is a frequent speaker and author on tax matters for many professional organizations. His chapters and articles have been published by West Publishing, Mertens Federal Income Taxation, CCH Incorporated, the CBA Record and EA Journal. He has been a guest speaker of the IRS at its agent training programs and has testified before Congress on federal taxation matters. Theodore received his undergraduate (B.B.A.) and law (J.D.) degrees from Notre Dame.

Intermediate Level Team

Nadine Smith, EA
Level II Head of Team
A Fellow of NTPI, Nadine served as a Level II Discussion Leader at 2005–07 NTPI and is past president of the Michigan Society of Enrolled Agents (2006). She was a member of the IRS Practitioner/Liaison Committee in 2005 and is a former NAEA Education Fund Trustee. Nadine practices in Michigan and Florida, where she specializes in representation.

Catherine Clow, EA
Cathy is a Fellow of NTPI, class of 2000.  She has been a Level II Discussion Leader/Instructor for the past six years.  She has served on the NAEA Education Foundation and the Scholarship Committee and on the Board of the Best in the West Education Foundation.  Her practice in Grass Valley, CA specializes in individual and business tax preparation and representation.

Marc J. Dombrowski, EA
Marc has represented clients as an enrolled agent specializing in representation since 1994.  He is the Vice President of Tax Help Associates, Inc., a Buffalo, NY based firm that focuses on collection issues. Mark’s extensive experience as an instructor includes a variety of collection representation courses at chapter and state meetings of the New York Society of Enrolled Agents and instructing for the IRS on e-Services. Having been published in the EA Journal and participated in two Brookhaven Centralized Offer in Compromise tours, Mark’s recognized expertise has landed him as a frequent contributor to CNBC Money Talk. Mark holds a BS in Business Studies from the S.U.N.Y. system.

Bert Hartmann, EA
An NTPI Fellow, Bert became an EA in 1989 and opened his Sparks, NV office in 1991. He is a member of the Nevada Society of Enrolled Agents (NVSEA), serves on the board of the Best in the West Education Foundation and has been an NTPI instructor for seven years.

Don Rosenberg, EA
Don is an NTPI Fellow and has a private tax and accounting practice. He is also a tax controversy specialist with Tax Help Associates, Inc. in Buffalo, NY, representing taxpayers before the IRS and state authorities.

Cheryl Sheil, EA, MS, MBA
Cheryl’s instruction is informed by 30 years of experience in tax representation in her own practice. She is a 1996 NTPI Fellow and served as a Discussion Leader for NTPI Level II from 2005-2008. Cheryl is the current President of the Graduate Fellow Association (GFA) and holds a Master’s degree in Psychology and an MBA. She maintains her practice in San Diego, CA. 

Craig C. Smith, EA, USTCP
Craig, who has been in practice with his wife Rosemary for 16 years, specializes in individual, small business, partnership and corporate tax return preparation. An enrolled agent since 1994, he graduated from the Fellows program in 2000 and passed the United States Tax Court Exam in 2006. Craig has served as a Level II Discussion Leader for the past three years.

Linda Wegge, EA
Linda has been practicing in the tax and accounting field for 30 years and has been an enrolled agent since 1996. An NTPI Fellow, she has been involved with Level II teaching for eight years as Head Discussion Leader, Instructor and Group Discussion Leader. Linda specializes in representation, tax preparation and accounting in the Chicago area.