5 days Ago By Ray Huard
SAN DIEGO – The small law firm that Ronson J. Shamoun founded as a sole practitioner in 2003 has grown to become one of San Diego’s preeminent tax law experts. RJS Law, based in downtown San Diego, is a full-service tax and estate planning firm with a practice that emphasizes tax litigation, tax planning, international tax, criminal tax defense, trust creation and probate matters.
Shamoun once represented Priscilla Presley in a dispute over the estate of her daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, who died in 2023. “That’s kind of my forte now, handling trust disputes and tax litigation,” Shamoun said. Shamoun said that he couldn’t go into details about the settlement of the dispute involving Priscilla Presley, but “Everyone was happy.
The family is united, and it turned out to be a great resolution.” A graduate of the University of San Diego, with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, Shamoun said that he went back to school to study law at his father’s urging. “I took a class called tax litigation.
I thought, ‘Wow, this is fun. It’s litigation, but it’s defending people before the IRS,’” Shamoun said. “I ended up falling in love with tax litigation.
” Shamoun’s law practice started small. “It was just me and I hired an assistant,” Shamoun said. “I had just graduated.
I couldn’t find a job.” Shamoun rented a room in an office with five other lawyers. “It was just a room and a little space for a receptionist,” Shamoun said.
By 2025, RJS Law had grown to a staff of 25, with offices in El Cajon and Irvine in addition to its downtown San Diego headquarters. “I like the size that we are. We’re a mid-size firm.
We have the ability to take on very big clients,” Shamoun said. “I would like to grow by a few more lawyers, but we grow slowly and strategically.” Ideally, Shamoun said that he’d like to have about 20 lawyers on staff.
“We do have a national practice. I get calls from all over, but we’re mainly a Southern California law firm,” Shamoun said. Mentoring Shamoun said that there was an uptick in work following tax cuts made by the first Trump administration.
“We anticipate more work in the tax planning aspect of the firm considering that Trump is back in office,” Shamoun said. Shamoun credits his father, a real estate investor, for the success of RJS Law. “He lived and worked to provide a good household and really believed in education and supported me and paid my way through college and helped me open up my first firm,” Shamoun said.
“He always taught me this – he said working hard doesn’t kill you, stress kills you. Working hard is like exercise. It makes you stronger.
I’ve always lived by that motto. You have to work hard. If you work hard, you make it in this world.
” Shamon said that he also followed his father’s advice to invest in real estate. “It’s a good way to minimize taxes,” Shamoun said. “A real estate portfolio, over time, will appreciate.
Then, when you retire, you can live off the rents that come in.” In addition to running RJS, Shamoun is an adjunct professor of law at the University of San Diego School of Law and an adjunct professor of tax as the university’s Knauss School of Business. He also mentors law students and encourages others in his firm to do the same.
“A lot of these young students, they just need guidance,” Shamoun said. “They’re lost. They’re young and they just need someone with experience to guide them.
” RJS Law FOUNDED: 2003 HEADQUARTERS: downtown San Diego CEO: Ronson J. Shamoun BUSINESS: tax law firm EMPLOYEES: 25 WEBSITE: www.irssolution.
com CONTACT: 619-595-1655 NOTABLE: RJS Law consistently appears before the Internal Revenue Service, Franchise Tax Board, Employment Development Department, and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. RJS attorneys also work with the Department of Justice – Tax Division, as consultants on IRS high net worth audits, and with various US Attorney’s Offices throughout the country..
