Phillip Zagotti
Attorney and CPA • JD, CPA
Phillip Zagotti is an attorney and certified public accountant whose practice sits at the intersection of law and accounting. He represents individuals and businesses throughout New Mexico in federal tax controversy, bankruptcy, trust and estate taxation, and forensic accounting matters, and is admitted to both the United States District Court and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Mexico.
Most legal problems involving money are really two problems at once: a legal problem and a numbers problem. Clients typically hire an attorney for one and an accountant for the other, then hope the two talk to each other. At North Star Law Firm, they are the same person.
A Practice Built on Both Licenses
Phillip brings more than 25 years of combined experience in law, public accounting, and forensic accounting. Before founding North Star Law Firm, he co-founded Zagotti & Burdette CPA, LLC, where he spent a decade advising businesses, trustees, and individual taxpayers on tax compliance, planning, and controversy work. Earlier in his career he served in controllership roles, including one where he helped scale a company from roughly $10 million to $120 million in revenue across 24 locations.
His business experience runs deep in areas most attorneys only read about. He has advised multiple franchisees, including owners of failed franchises facing personal guarantees, and helped a company franchise its own business concept. That operational background shapes how he practices law: he has sat on the client’s side of the table, and he understands financial statements because he spent years preparing them.
His legal practice is exclusively federal, which is what allows the firm to serve New Mexico clients on IRS and bankruptcy matters. He represents taxpayers before the IRS and the United States Tax Court, and he represents debtors, creditors, and business owners in the federal district and bankruptcy courts where he is admitted, including the District of New Mexico and the Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas.
Court Admissions and Licenses
- United States Tax Court
- United States District Court, Southern District of Texas
- United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Texas
- United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas
- United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Texas
- United States District Court, District of New Mexico
- United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Mexico
- State Bar of California, Attorney (Active)
- Texas State Board of Public Accountancy, Certified Public Accountant
Author
Phillip writes for the people who actually have to live with tax and legal problems: business owners, trustees, and taxpayers, not other lawyers. His books translate complicated federal rules into plain English and practical decisions.
Taxed
A plain-English guide to the federal tax system for taxpayers and business owners, co-authored with Ashley Burdette, CPA.
Trusted
A practical handbook for trustees and beneficiaries on trust administration and trust taxation, co-authored with Ashley Burdette, CPA.
The Small Business Disaster Survival Guide
Published in April 2020, this guide walked small business owners through the CARES Act, PPP, and EIDL relief programs, and warned readers from the start that federal fraud enforcement would follow the money.
That last point matters today. Phillip has worked on COVID-era small business loan programs since they were created in 2020. Six years later, much of his practice involves helping the same generation of borrowers resolve EIDL defaults, Treasury collections, and SBA offers in compromise.
Teaching and Speaking
Phillip is a national continuing legal education faculty member with LexVid, where he presents an eight-part CLE series on trust law and trust taxation based on his book Trusted.
His commentary on tax, debt, and small business finance has been featured in national outlets including Kiplinger, GOBankingRates, and ThinkAdvisor.
Recognition
Phillip received Lone Star Legal Aid’s 2025 Commitment to Pro Bono Award in recognition of his volunteer legal work for low-income Texans, an honor co-signed by Justice J. Brett Busby of the Supreme Court of Texas.
Education
- Juris Doctor, Purdue Global Law School
- BBA in Accounting, University of Houston, C.T. Bauer College of Business
- AAS in Applied Science, Houston Community College
How North Star Law Firm Can Help
North Star Law Firm represents New Mexico individuals and businesses in federal tax defense, bankruptcy, SBA and EIDL debt resolution, and forensic accounting matters. Phillip Zagotti, JD/CPA, handles matters from IRS audit defense through Tax Court litigation, and represents debtors in Chapter 7, Chapter 13, and Subchapter V cases in the District of New Mexico. If your problem involves both the law and the numbers, you only need to explain it once.
Ready to talk through your situation?