Former BigLaw partner failed to pay taxes on about $3.4M in income, plea agreement says
A former partner at Husch Blackwell and Dykema Gossett has reached an agreement to plead guilty to failing to pay taxes on about $3.4 million in income. (Image from Shutterstock)
A former partner at Husch Blackwell and Dykema Gossett has reached an agreement to plead guilty to failing to pay taxes on about $3.4 million in income.
Eric E. Lenzen of Mequon, Wisconsin, agreed to plead guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay tax on income for two tax years, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Lenzen filed federal tax returns but did not pay the taxes owed, the plea agreement says. He owed $171,031 in taxes for about $1.16 million earned in 2016 and owed $868,499 in taxes for about $2.24 million earned in 2020, the plea agreement says.
The government agreed to recommend a sentence of no more than 16 months in prison. Lenzen agreed to pay restitution of at least $3.9 million, which constitutes unpaid taxes from 2016 through 2021, along with interest and penalties.
Lenzen had led Husch Blackwell’s financial services and capital markets industry group, according to a January 2022 Reuters story on his move to Dykema Gossett as a senior counsel. Lenzen was one of seven lawyers hired by Dykema Gossett to launch a Milwaukee office.
Husch Blackwell’s chairman released a statement at the time of the move. The statement said Lenzen had been placed on leave in May 2021 “to address his financial, tax and personal problems.”
Husch Blackwell fired Lenzen that August after the law firm “did not see the expected level of engagement or progress” during the leave, the statement said.
A Dykema Gossett spokesperson gave this statement to Law360: “Former employee Eric Lenzen departed Dykema on April 15, 2024, prior to the firm’s knowledge of the personal tax-related misdemeanor charges recently filed against Mr. Lenzen. The firm does not have any statement on his personal matters.”
