Greg has practiced law for over 30 years, emphasizing the representation of entrepreneurs, developers and investors in business start-ups, acquisitions and sales of businesses, organization of joint ventures and partnerships, as well as routine and complex real estate development and investment structures. He has assisted in the structuring and negotiation of thousands of commercial transactions involving all forms of business organizations and industries. His specialties include "pass-through" organizations such as partnerships and limited liability companies, and he has played a substantial role in the drafting of Florida's partnership and limited liability company laws over the years. Greg is an experienced business tax lawyer and affords his clients the income tax planning required for evaluating alternative business entities and "tax-optimizing" their deal structures, thus eliminating the need to retain separate tax counsel for the transactions in which he is involved. Greg is also certified as a Circuit Court Mediator for the Florida Supreme Court.
Areas of Concentration
· Choice of business entities and alternative organizational and investment structures
· Tax and business planning for real estate investment transactions (including 1031 like-kind exchanges and 1033 conversions)
· Organization and conversions of business and investment structures (Mergers and conversions involving "pass-through" entities)
· Real estate development and investment ventures
· Business and asset reorganizations
· Limited liability companies
· Joint ventures and partnerships (including LLP and LLLP)
· U.S. Partnership taxation
· State taxation planning for business organizations and structures
Significant Representations
· Planning and organization of numerous national and international business entities and ventures, including limited liability companies, partnerships, joint ventures and various alternative entity structures.
· Planning and organization of various venture capital placement and financing structures (including venture capital and private equity funds).
· Acquisitions and sales of businesses and mergers, recapitalizations, and other reorganizations involving alternative business entities.
· Tax planning for conversions, mergers and other reorganizations of pass-through entities.
Professional & Community Involvement
· Member, The Florida Bar, Tax and Business Law Sections
- Chair, LLC Committee of Tax Section
- The Executive Council (Director), Tax Section
· Reporter, Florida Revised LLC Act Drafting Committee (2008 to present )
· Chair and Reporter, Florida Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act Drafting Committee (and 2005 amendments to "cross-species" merger and conversion laws for other Florida entities)
· Member of Florida Bar Drafting Committees for 1999 and 2001 LLC Act Revisions
· Member, American Bar Association (ABA)
- Partnerships Committee, Tax Section (Subcommittee on Partnership/LLC Options)
- ULLCA Task Force, Subcommittees on Limited Partnerships and LLCs and Task Force on Model ABA LLC Act (LLCs, Partnerships & Unincorporated Entities Committee of Business Section)
· Former Adjunct Professor of Law, Stetson University in St. Petersburg, Florida
· Former Chair, The Michigan Bar's Corporation, Finance and Business Law Section Committees on Corporations and Securities Law
· Dean's Advisory Committee - University of Detroit Mercy School of Law
Awards & Recognition
· Selected, a Law360 2011 Real Estate Group of the Year
· Member, Winning Team, 2010 Chambers and Partners USA Award for Excellence in Real Estate
· Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, 2008-2012
· Selected, Super Lawyers magazine, 2006-2011
· Recipient, "Chair's Special Merit Award" - Florida Bar Tax Section 2004 (Chair and Reporter of Drafting Committee regarding Florida business entities)
· Rated, AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5
Articles, Publications, & Lectures
Articles
· Author, "Notice Regarding 'Olmstead Patch' Bill," June, 2011
· Author, "Understanding and Selecting the Best Conversion or Merger Approach for Passthrough Entities," Passthrough Entities, September-October, 2002
· Author, "Is it time for series LLCs in Florida?"
· Authored/edited sections of legal treatises on tax, corporate and securities laws
Lectures
· Lecture to attorneys, accountants, and other professional groups on general tax and corporate law issues