Attorney Michael K. Blue is the principal and head of litigation at The Blue Law Group, with its primary offices in Los Angeles and Rancho Cucamonga, California. Mr. Blue represents clients in these cities as well as cities in Riverside, Orange, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties, and throughout Southern California in taxation, business, civil, employment law, complex family law, and complex criminal defense matters.

With respect to education, Mr. Blue has an almost-unparalleled background that resulted in his receiving five university degrees, all of which were earned from among the nation’s most elite and prestigious universities. Specifically, Mr. Blue holds three Bachelor’s degrees from two of the nation’s top public universities, the University of California, Los Angeles (annually ranked among the top-2 public universities, and ranked the #1 public school in the country in 2018) and the University of Texas at Austin (annually ranked among the top-20 public universities), where he graduated with a perfect grade point average, highest honors, and Phi Beta Kappa. In addition, Mr. Blue earned a Doctorate in Law from one of the nation’s top-12 and super-elite law schools at Northwestern University School of Law, and also earned a Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University School of Law (NYU), which is in the country’s legal academic stratosphere with its annual ranking among the nation’s top-6 law schools, and without question, the country’s top-ranked and most prominent school for Taxation. Additionally, Mr. Blue is a member of many of the nation’s most prominent academic honor societies, including Phi Kappa Phi, Golden Key, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, the National Scholars Honor Society, Gamma Beta Phi Society, Delta Epsilon Iota Academic Honor Society—and the nation’s oldest, most selective, and most prestigious academic honor society: Phi Beta Kappa.

In the area of Taxation (including Probate and Estate Planning), Mr. Blue possesses enormous almost unequaled credentials, which has afforded an ability to handle and understand the most routine to the most complex and sophisticated matters. Specifically, Mr. Blue holds a license to practice law in all of the state courts of California and the United States (Federal) Tax Court, is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), holds an LL.M. in Taxation from the top-school in the country in Taxation (NYU), and is board-certified by the State Bar of California as a Specialist in Taxation. There are perhaps less-than-10 lawyers in the entire State of California who possess (all of) these credentials. With this background, Mr. Blue has been able to defend clients in probate matters, as well as defend clients against numerous different taxing bodies, such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Franchise Tax Board. Mr. Blue has also been able to defend clients in various venues, including the California Superior Court and the United States Tax Court. In addition, Mr. Blue has had an enormous string of highly successful defenses of clients ranging from a single taxpayers and sole proprietors to multimillion-dollar corporations, affiliated corporations, and countless sibling corporations. In 2017, among many other cases, Mr. Blue settled a case at the IRS Office of Appeals which ended a two-year intensely contested audit of a taxpayer and its spouse, and approximately 15 corporations owned by the taxpayer–resulting in the review and analysis of tens-of-thousands of pages of documents, thousands of pages of bank statements and other financial documents—and the outcome of no additional taxes to be paid.

In Criminal Law, Mr. Blue has had substantial and vigorous experience representing numerous individuals accused of (or the threatened accusation of) “white collar” crimes such as fraud, insurance fraud, tax evasion, and embezzlement; as well as non-white-collar crimes such as murder/conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, driving under the influence, drug possession and intent to distribute, rape, battery against a police officer, assault with a deadly weapon, grand/petty theft, and much more. In 2017, Mr. Blue, among other cases, successfully defended a client facing conspiracy to commit murder—resulting in the dropping of all charges. In another 2017 case, Mr. Blue defended a mother facing criminal child abuse and the permanent removal of her child from her legal custody. The result was no criminal charges filed and the return of the child despite a medical expert’s trial testimony the child should be permanently removed, the county alleging fear the child would be killed, and medical records showing the child had a subdural hematoma, severe facial swelling and lacerations, and four fractured ribs—all occurring while under the care of the mother.

Educational Background

• New York University School of Law (NYU), Master of Laws, Major: Tax Law
• Northwestern University School of Law, Juris Doctor, Major: Law
• The University of Texas at Austin, B.A., with highest honors (summa cum laude), Major: Anthropology
• The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), B.A., Major: History
• The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), B.A., Major: Economics

Special Certifications

• Board Certified by the State Bar of California as a Specialist in Taxation
• Certified Public Accountant (licensed in the State of Illinois)

Recent Judgments and Settlements

• Judgment for over $9 million against defendants for fraud, RICO, professional negligence, unfair competition, and untrue/misleading advertising, 2017
• Judgment in U.S. Tax Court in favor of taxpayer corporation over a two-year intense audit finding no deficiencies in income tax due, as alleged by the IRS, 2017
• Settlement with two national retail stores for premises liability cases, 2017
• Settlement at the IRS Office of Appeals, ending a two-year intensely contested audit of a taxpayer and its spouse, and approximately 15 corporations owned by the taxpayer–resulting in no additional taxes to be paid, 2017
• Judgment in U.S. Tax Court in favor of taxpayer, resulting in a finding that not only was no tax liability due as alleged by the IRS (e.g., “no deficiency in income tax”), but also a finding that a refund was due to the taxpayer by the IRS, 2014
• Settlement with a prominent university for a case involving gender discrimination, 2013
• Settlement with a governmental entity for a case involving civil rights (excessive use of force)