Robert J. Lauer

Robert (Bob) Lauer graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Fordham University, a J.D. from St. John's University School of Law, and an LLM in Federal Taxation from NYU Graduate School of Law. He has been a practicing Certified Public Accountant for 43 years and is admitted to the Bar in the State of New York and the United States Tax Court. He co-founded the firm with Karen Georgatos in 1985 following his experience as a tax partner with Deloitte & Touche.

Bob's areas of specialization include tax planning and consulting for privately held businesses and high net worth individuals, as well as taxpayer representation and litigation support services, particularly in family law matters.

Bob's outside interests include serving as a trustee at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research where he has also chaired both the Finance and the Audit Committees.

Karen Georgatos

Karen Georgatos graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance, magna cum laude, from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California and has been a practicing Certified Public Accountant for 31 years, concentrating in the tax field. She co-founded the firm with Bob Lauer in 1985 following her experience as a senior tax manager with Deloitte & Touche.

Karen is experienced in providing tax consultation, tax compliance and tax representation services and serves an extensive group of privately owned companies ranging in size from annual revenues of several million to several hundred million dollars, as well as individuals of high net worth and professional service firms. She is a specialist in complex partnership, LLC, S corporation, and multistate tax returns.

She has a particular specialization in the real estate development industry and has represented the land development industry in hearings before the Internal Revenue Service concerning tax matters impacting the industry.

Karen S. Covel

Karen Covel graduated from San Diego State University with both a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a Master of Science degree in Accountancy with an emphasis in taxation. She began her professional career at Arthur Young (now Ernst & Young), and was a senior associate there before leaving to join Lauer & Georgatos.

Karen has been a practicing Certified Public Accountant and tax consultant for more than 20 years. She serves a diverse group of clients including privately held businesses, private foundations, professional service firms, trusts, and individuals. She has represented clients before the IRS and state taxing authorities in various examination and tax collection matters and has, in particular, represented numerous clients before taxing authorities in connection with worker classification disputes.