Mardiros “Marty” Dakessian founded Dakessian Law to build the premier law practice dedicated to representing California taxpayers. This strong sense of purpose, combined with Marty’s deep and abiding commitment to his clients, drives him to relentlessly defend their interests with loyalty, integrity, and distinction. And the results he has achieved for his clients speak for themselves. Marty not only has a track record of success both at the administrative level and in court, he has shown an unprecedented ability to hold taxing agencies accountable. Over the years, Dakessian and his team have forced California tax agencies to pay attorney fee awards to several clients totaling over $3 million.

Immediately before starting Dakessian Law, Marty ended a successful run as equity partner at Global 20 law firm Reed Smith LLP where he led his team to numerous, impactful administrative and judicial victories. For his efforts, Marty was named “Tax MVP” in 2013 and 2014 by legal publication Law360, which lauded him as “a top-flight litigator.” He received three more Law360 Tax MVP awards in Dakessian Law’s first four years of operations—earning him a total of five Law360 Tax MVPs—more than any other California state and local tax lawyer. Marty’s efforts have even attracted the attention of the California Legislature, with legislative staff referring to him as a “noted tax attorney.”

Marty has more than 20 years of California tax and bankruptcy experience, beginning his career with the State Board of Equalization—which at the time was California’s administrative tax court and the world’s second-largest taxing agency. Marty worked for two of the five members who ran the Board—first as graduate research assistant to the Honorable Dean F. Andal, and then as legal counsel to the Honorable Claude W. Parrish, who was Chair of the Board in 2000 and thus served on the three-member Franchise Tax Board, and who is the current Orange County Tax Assessor. During Marty’s time at the State Board of Equalization, he was responsible for advising Mr. Parrish regarding California franchise and income tax, sales tax, and property tax issues. These issues involved taxpayer cases before the Board as well as regulatory, litigation and policy matters.

Observing the inner workings of California’s tax agencies combined with years of experience representing taxpayers have made Marty particularly adept at navigating California’s complex and unique tax system. Law360 agrees. stating that Marty’s experiences have given him “an easy familiarity with the public and private spheres of state tax practice and have been a boon to clients searching for the best ways to fight state assessments.” Although these qualities distinguish him from others in the field, so does his passion for representing taxpayers. As Law360 observed, “his victories are strongly linked to the love he has for his work.”