By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Attorney Erik VanderWeyden was raised in Grand Rapids and completed undergraduate and law school at Michigan State University. After law school, he moved to Chicago and spent 11 years working at a national law firm with a multi-faceted practice including tax controversy, data privacy and cybersecurity, and real estate taxation.
VanderWeyden, who is married and the father of two children, recently joined Ayar Law, a tax law firm headquartered in Farmington Hills, serving clients in Metro Detroit and throughout the United States. VanderWeyden recently moved back to Grand Rapids will lead the firm’s Grand Rapids office scheduled to open on January 1, 2026, where he will continue representing West Michigan taxpayers facing complex IRS and state tax issues.
VanderWeyden brings 13 years of innovative tax controversy experience to Ayar Law, where he specializes in resolving complex disputes with the IRS and state tax authorities. His practice focuses on creative approaches to tax resolution, including Offers in Compromise, penalty abatement, and defense against Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP) claims. With a proven track record of success in high-stakes tax matters, VanderWeyden has negotiated multi-million-dollar settlements, defended businesses against crippling payroll tax assessments, and secured substantial penalty reductions for clients with international tax exposure.
What would surprise people about your job? Tax controversy work is often about problem-solving and advocacy as opposed to punishment. I get to help people and businesses find fair resolutions to complex issues – often turning stressful situations into manageable outcomes.
Why did you become a lawyer? I wanted to help people navigate challenging and stressful situations with confidence and clarity.
What’s your proudest moment as a lawyer? I successfully secured a full charitable property tax exemption for a charitable organization located in Chicago that operates a coffee shop on part of its property. The coffee shop serves as a training facility for cognitively disabled young adults. After a long process, I successfully proved the main function of the coffee shop was charitable in nature, since its main purpose is to provide hands-on work experience and equipping the young adults with the skills necessary to secure future employment.
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement? Representing an indigent client in a pro bono IRS audit and securing a result that resulted in a badly needed refund.
What advice do you have for someone considering law school? This advice applies to all higher education students—utilize your professor’s office hours. It took me too long in my collegiate and law school time to realize the huge benefits of meeting with your professors on a regular basis.
Who are your law role models – real and/or fictional? During my time at a big law firm, I was fortunate to have many mentors who guided me throughout the years, but I have always admired my law professors the most, whose teachings provided the foundation for my legal career.
What’s your favorite law-related movie? “My Cousin Vinny” – beyond being a hilarious movie, the rules of evidence portrayed in the movie are surprisingly accurate. My law school professor actually showed clips of the movie to demonstrate how to effectively enter evidence.
What’s the best advice you ever received? An attorney told me early in my career not to assume experience automatically means greater knowledge.
If you could trade places with someone for a day, who would that be? An NHL player – getting to play hockey for a living sounds like the ultimate dream job!
What do you do to relax? I enjoy spending time with my wife and kids, going swimming, biking, hiking, and cheering on the Michigan State Spartans.
What other career path might you have chosen? My father and brother are both commercial airline pilots. I love to travel and would have likely followed in the family tradition.
What would you say to your 16-year-old self? Challenge yourself and break out of your comfort zone more often.
Favorite local hangouts? I enjoy discovering dive bars and local breweries. Current favorites are Brewery Vivant and the Winchester.
Favorite websites? I enjoy staying up to date on sports news by following the beat writers on Mlive.com.
Favorite music? My favorite band is Radiohead, I also enjoy listening to Indie Rock (Whitney, The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie) and Progressive Rock (Pink Floyd, Rush).
Favorite app? X (formerly Twitter), I enjoy getting up to date news on sports teams.
What is your happiest childhood memory? Traveling to Europe to visit family.
What is your most treasured material possession? My laptop – almost all of my family photos and important projects live on it.
What do you wish someone would invent? Teleportation.
What has been your favorite year so far and why? Probably 2020, although it was a chaotic year – transitioning from working in an office five to six times a week to working from home and spending every day with family was very refreshing.
What’s the most awe-inspiring place you’ve ever been? My wife and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary last year by traveling to Moorea, French Polynesia. The mountain terrain and beaches were surreal, and the sunsets were breathtaking.
If you could have one super power, what would it be? I would love to have the ability to time travel.
What’s one thing you would like to learn to do? I would love to learn to play piano.
What is something most people don’t know about you? I’ve never broken a bone, despite playing multiple contact sports growing up.
Favorite places to spend money? Traveling, and discovering new restaurants.
What is your motto? Do the right thing, even when no one is watching.
Who do you most admire? I admire people who use their success and skills to uplift others, such as chef and humanitarian Jose Andres.
What is the most unusual thing you have done? I once spent over 35 hours traveling to spend 40 hours in Tokyo.
Legal News
Attorney Erik VanderWeyden was raised in Grand Rapids and completed undergraduate and law school at Michigan State University. After law school, he moved to Chicago and spent 11 years working at a national law firm with a multi-faceted practice including tax controversy, data privacy and cybersecurity, and real estate taxation.
VanderWeyden, who is married and the father of two children, recently joined Ayar Law, a tax law firm headquartered in Farmington Hills, serving clients in Metro Detroit and throughout the United States. VanderWeyden recently moved back to Grand Rapids will lead the firm’s Grand Rapids office scheduled to open on January 1, 2026, where he will continue representing West Michigan taxpayers facing complex IRS and state tax issues.
VanderWeyden brings 13 years of innovative tax controversy experience to Ayar Law, where he specializes in resolving complex disputes with the IRS and state tax authorities. His practice focuses on creative approaches to tax resolution, including Offers in Compromise, penalty abatement, and defense against Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP) claims. With a proven track record of success in high-stakes tax matters, VanderWeyden has negotiated multi-million-dollar settlements, defended businesses against crippling payroll tax assessments, and secured substantial penalty reductions for clients with international tax exposure.
What would surprise people about your job? Tax controversy work is often about problem-solving and advocacy as opposed to punishment. I get to help people and businesses find fair resolutions to complex issues – often turning stressful situations into manageable outcomes.
Why did you become a lawyer? I wanted to help people navigate challenging and stressful situations with confidence and clarity.
What’s your proudest moment as a lawyer? I successfully secured a full charitable property tax exemption for a charitable organization located in Chicago that operates a coffee shop on part of its property. The coffee shop serves as a training facility for cognitively disabled young adults. After a long process, I successfully proved the main function of the coffee shop was charitable in nature, since its main purpose is to provide hands-on work experience and equipping the young adults with the skills necessary to secure future employment.
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement? Representing an indigent client in a pro bono IRS audit and securing a result that resulted in a badly needed refund.
What advice do you have for someone considering law school? This advice applies to all higher education students—utilize your professor’s office hours. It took me too long in my collegiate and law school time to realize the huge benefits of meeting with your professors on a regular basis.
Who are your law role models – real and/or fictional? During my time at a big law firm, I was fortunate to have many mentors who guided me throughout the years, but I have always admired my law professors the most, whose teachings provided the foundation for my legal career.
What’s your favorite law-related movie? “My Cousin Vinny” – beyond being a hilarious movie, the rules of evidence portrayed in the movie are surprisingly accurate. My law school professor actually showed clips of the movie to demonstrate how to effectively enter evidence.
What’s the best advice you ever received? An attorney told me early in my career not to assume experience automatically means greater knowledge.
If you could trade places with someone for a day, who would that be? An NHL player – getting to play hockey for a living sounds like the ultimate dream job!
What do you do to relax? I enjoy spending time with my wife and kids, going swimming, biking, hiking, and cheering on the Michigan State Spartans.
What other career path might you have chosen? My father and brother are both commercial airline pilots. I love to travel and would have likely followed in the family tradition.
What would you say to your 16-year-old self? Challenge yourself and break out of your comfort zone more often.
Favorite local hangouts? I enjoy discovering dive bars and local breweries. Current favorites are Brewery Vivant and the Winchester.
Favorite websites? I enjoy staying up to date on sports news by following the beat writers on Mlive.com.
Favorite music? My favorite band is Radiohead, I also enjoy listening to Indie Rock (Whitney, The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie) and Progressive Rock (Pink Floyd, Rush).
Favorite app? X (formerly Twitter), I enjoy getting up to date news on sports teams.
What is your happiest childhood memory? Traveling to Europe to visit family.
What is your most treasured material possession? My laptop – almost all of my family photos and important projects live on it.
What do you wish someone would invent? Teleportation.
What has been your favorite year so far and why? Probably 2020, although it was a chaotic year – transitioning from working in an office five to six times a week to working from home and spending every day with family was very refreshing.
What’s the most awe-inspiring place you’ve ever been? My wife and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary last year by traveling to Moorea, French Polynesia. The mountain terrain and beaches were surreal, and the sunsets were breathtaking.
If you could have one super power, what would it be? I would love to have the ability to time travel.
What’s one thing you would like to learn to do? I would love to learn to play piano.
What is something most people don’t know about you? I’ve never broken a bone, despite playing multiple contact sports growing up.
Favorite places to spend money? Traveling, and discovering new restaurants.
What is your motto? Do the right thing, even when no one is watching.
Who do you most admire? I admire people who use their success and skills to uplift others, such as chef and humanitarian Jose Andres.
What is the most unusual thing you have done? I once spent over 35 hours traveling to spend 40 hours in Tokyo.
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