Nikolai Tillman

NIKOLAI TILLMAN focuses his practice on contested federal tax matters at the IRS examination level, the IRS administrative appeals level, and in other contested matters involving governmental agencies. Prior to joining Sidley, Nikolai served as a judicial law clerk at the U.S. Tax Court, where he assisted in drafting numerous opinions and orders on various federal tax issues. Before clerking, Nikolai was a Graduate Tax Scholar at Georgetown University Law Center, where he received his LL.M. in taxation with distinction and regularly participates as a panelist at their new student orientation.

While attending Syracuse University College of Law, Nikolai served as a student clinician in Syracuse’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic and as an associate note editor of the Syracuse Law Review. He also served as a legal extern for several governmental agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York. He graduated from Syracuse University College of Law, magna cum laude, and was a member of the Order of the Coif and the Justinian Honor Society. He received his B.S. in political science from SUNY Brockport, summa cum laude, where he graduated first in his class and earned the “Political Science Departmental Scholar Award” and the “Sarah F. Liebschutz Award” for the top-ranking graduating senior.

Representative matters include the submission of requests for competent authority assistance to the Treaty Assistance Interpretation Team of the IRS, as well as the representation of multiple clients in audits of research credit claims.