Nicholas Lyskin
Associate
Overview
Nicholas A. Lyskin is a litigation and dispute resolution attorney in Holland & Knight's Atlanta office. Mr. Lyskin concentrates his practice on complex commercial litigation, appellate matters and federal tax litigation, with extensive experience representing clients in federal and state courts throughout all stages of their cases. His commercial litigation work encompasses employment disputes, business torts and breach of contract claims, data breach matters and real property controversies.
Mr. Lyskin has achieved significant success obtaining temporary restraining orders (TROs) and other emergency injunctive relief for clients, as well as defending businesses and individuals against efforts to impose injunctions that would disrupt their operations or contractual rights.
As a former trial attorney with the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, Mr. Lyskin also brings significant experience representing clients throughout governmental audits and litigation brought by the IRS, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). His first trial at the IRS Office of Chief Counsel was a Section 183 hobby loss case regarding whether the taxpayer's equestrian activities qualified as a business. He subsequently handled and supervised numerous equine-related tax matters. Drawing on this experience, Mr. Lyskin is particularly skilled in guiding clients through governmental audits and representing them at trial.
In the community, Mr. Lyskin regularly presents to other attorneys and professionals on developing issues in the legal industry. In addition, he is committed to providing pro bono services to military service members and veterans.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Lyskin worked in the Los Angeles and Atlanta offices of a national law firm, where he focused on litigation and appellate advocacy.
Representative Experience
- Successfully obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) in a dispute involving the misappropriation of trade secrets
- Part of a two-attorney team that obtained dismissal of all derivative claims brought in a shareholder dispute; obtained injunctive relief requiring former shareholder and employees to return all records belonging to the client company
- Defended a national retailer against claims – including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud by a joint venture partner in federal court – resulting in settlement
- Part of a three-attorney team that filed motion for summary judgment causing the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to renounce its interpretation of the regulation in dispute
- Regularly obtained dismissal of several key issues via summary judgment in litigation against the IRS
- Achieved favorable settlements for two appraisers under IRS investigation, resulting in the IRS reversing hundreds of thousands of dollars in appraiser penalties
- Obtained complete reversal of a seven-figure federal tax penalty
- Part of a two-attorney team that forced the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to drop several proposed charges for criminal tax evasion at a pre-trial conference
- Part of a two-attorney team that successfully appealed and reversed a trial court's dismissal of client's complaint brought pro se against a medical residency program
- Successfully obtained an interlocutory review and reversal of an otherwise dispositive trial court ruling entered against the client and its former counsel
Credentials
- New York University School of Law, LL.M., Taxation
- Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law, J.D., cum laude
- Arizona State University, B.S.
- California
- Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
- U.S. Tax Court
- Supreme Court of Georgia
- Court of Appeals of Georgia
- All Superior Courts in Georgia
- Supreme Court of California
- All Superior Courts in California
- All Courts of Appeal in California
- State Bar of Georgia, 2022-Present; Tax Section, Treasurer, 2025-2026
- State Bar of California, 2019-Present
- American Bar Association
- Atlanta Bar Association
- IRS New Attorney of the Year, West Region, 2020
- Four CALI Excellence for the Future Awards (Top Grade), Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law
- Woolsack Honor Society, Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law
- Phi Alpha Delta