L. Andrew Immerman, Conference Co-Chair,
Alston & Bird LLP

Andy is a member of the Federal Income Tax Group and the International Tax Group. He concentrates on federal income tax matters, including domestic and international tax planning and transactional work for joint ventures, partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations. Andy has helped structure many sophisticated partnership and limited liability company transactions. He has represented the target or the acquirer in numerous corporate mergers and acquisitions. He has also worked on many tax-free exchanges. Andy is a frequent author and speaker on domestic and international income tax topics. He is the author or co-author of articles that have appeared in Corporate Taxation, Insurance Tax Review, International Tax Review, Journal of Taxation, Journal of Taxation of Financial Institutions, Journal of Taxation of Financial Products, Journal of Taxation of Global Transactions, Labor Lawyer, Limited Liability Company Reporter, Mergers and Acquisitions, National Law Journal, Practical Tax Lawyer, Practical US/Domestic Tax Strategies, Practising Law Institute Course Handbook, Tax Notes, Tax Notes International, and Worldwide Tax Daily. He is also the co-author of Chapter 24 of Practical Guide to U.S. Transfer Pricing (2d ed. 2001), and a co-author of Georgia Limited Liability Company Forms and Practice Manual (2d ed. 1999, and annual supplements). He was co-chair of the 2006 Southeast Tax Institute, and has spoken at numerous seminars, including programs sponsored by the American Bar Association, the Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia, Lorman Education Services, Data Trace Publishing Company, Tax Executives Institute (Atlanta Chapter), National Business Institute, Society of Louisiana CPAs, and Georgia Society of CPAs. He is Chair of the Taxation Committee of the American Bar Association, Section of Business Law; Vice Chair of the Partnerships and LLCs Committee of the State Bar of Georgia, Business Law Section; and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He is also a member of the American Bar Association, Section on Taxation, Partnership Committee; the State Bar of Georgia, Taxation Law Section; the Atlanta Bar Association, Taxation Section; and the Atlanta Tax Forum. Mr. Immerman was listed in the 2004, 2005, and 2006 Georgia Super Lawyers. Mr. Immerman received his J.D. degree from the Yale Law School in 1982. In 1982-83, Andy was Law Clerk to The Honorable Judge Arlin M. Adams, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia, PA. He received advanced degrees from Princeton University (Ph.D., 1978; M.A., 1976) and the University of Minnesota (M.A., 1976), and an undergraduate degree from Carleton College (B.A., 1973, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa). Andy is admitted to the State Bar of Georgia and the State Bar of Pennsylvania.

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John F. Simon, Conference Co-Chair,
KPMG

John leads the Mergers & Acquisitions -Tax group’s renewable energy practice, which helps clients structure investments in renewable energy projects, acquire ownership of renewable energy companies, and obtain and monetize energy tax incentives, and is also the East Region leader for KPMG’s Energy Sustainability practice. Additionally, he advises U.S. and multinational corporations regarding the tax implications of complex business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations, spin-offs, joint ventures, and debt and equity investments. John has also served as a principal in KPMG’s Washington National Tax - Corporate tax group.John received an LL.M. (in Taxation) from New York University, where he was a Graduate Editor of the Tax Law Review, and a J.D. (with distinction) from Emory University, where he was an Associate Editor of the Emory Law Journal. Prior to joining KPMG, John practiced with the law firms of Alston & Bird and Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Atlanta and New York. He also served for many years as an Adjunct Professor at the Emory University School of Law where he taught corporate and partnership taxation courses.

As a frequent speaker to legal and accounting professionals, John has lectured on many tax topics including mergers and acquisitions, partnership taxation, energy tax incentives and monetization strategies, and tax planning for bankruptcy and workouts. He has also published numerous articles in publications such as The Journal of Taxation, The Journal of Corporate Taxation, Tax Notes, Practical Tax Strategies, The Journal of International Taxation, The Insurance Tax Review, Corporate Business Tax Monthly, and the Practicing Law Institute course book for the Tax Strategies for Corporate Acquisitions, Dispositions, Spin-Offs, Joint Ventures, Financings, Reorganizations & Restructurings seminar.John is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Corporate Business Taxation Monthly (published by CCH), the co-chairman of the Tax Planning for Business Transactions seminar, the Vice President of the Southeast Business Tax Forum, a member of the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Tax Forum, and the current Chair of the Corporate Tax Subcommittee of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association.

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Timothy L. Fallaw II, Conference Co-Chair,
Alston & Bird LLP

Tim Fallaw is a partner with Alston & Bird LLP, practicing in both the Federal Income Tax and State & Local Tax Groups. Mr. Fallaw focuses his practice primarily in the areas of federal tax and state & local tax controversy matters and litigation. He represents clients in administrative disputes with the Internal Revenue Service and state Departments of Revenue and in litigation in various state and federal courts.Mr. Fallaw received his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law in 2000 where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served on the editorial board for the Journal of Intellectual Property Law. He received his B.B.A. in accounting, summa cum laude with honors, from the University of Georgia in 1997.Mr. Fallaw has authored or co-authored numerous articles on issues in the fields of federal and state & local taxation. He has served as a contributing editor to the CCH Guidebook to Georgia Taxes. He also is a Georgia correspondent to State Tax Notes. Mr. Fallaw is a former Chair of the Tax Section of the State Bar of Georgia, and is a member of the Court Procedure and Practice and Administrative Practice Committees of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association.

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Saba Ashraf,
Troutman Sanders LLP

Saba is a partner in the Atlanta office of Troutman Sanders LLP and is a member of the firm’s Federal Income Tax group. She concentrates her practice on the structuring and effecting of complex business transactions and tax planning for corporations, partnerships and other business entities. Saba also recently served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at University of Georgia School of Law, where she taught Corporate Tax, and also recently became a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Saba has authored or co-authored numerous articles in professional publications, including “Tax-Free Corporate Mergers Have Been Redefined for the LLC Era,” 30:3 Corporate Taxation 3 (May/June 2003); reprinted in PLI’s Tax Strategies for Corporate Acquisitions Dispositions, Spin-Offs, Joint Ventures, Financings, Reorganizations & Restructurings, 2003, 2004 and 2005 (with Andy Immerman); “Tax-Free Mergers for Disregarded Entities” 2:11 Mergers and Acquisitions 3 (March 2002) (with Andy Immerman); “New Tax Regulations Reveal the Consequences of ‘Checking the Box’” 8:1 Limited Liability Company Reporter 00-104 (January/February 2000) (with Andy Immerman); “Virtual Taxation: State Taxation of Internet and On-Line Sales,” 24 Florida State University Law Review 605 (1997); “States’ Net Fails to Ensnare Internet Vendors: Congressional Authorization Needed,” 12 State Tax Notes 999 (March 31, 1997). She is an active member of the New York State Bar Association’s Tax Section and was a principal drafter of the Section’s Report on the Proposed Change in the Definition of Control in Section 368(c), printed in Tax Notes (July 15, 1999). She also participates actively in the American Bar Association Business Law Section's Tax Committee, and is the Vice-Chair of the Committee. She regularly speaks on subjects in her practice areas at forums including the Atlanta Tax Forum, the Tax Executives Institute and the American Bar Association. Additionally, she is a member of the board of directors of GAPABA (Georgia Asian Pacific Bar Association), a member of IndusBar of Georgia, and a member of OPEN-DC (Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America – DC Chapter). She received her B.S. from New York University’s Stern School of Business, J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law, and LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law. Upon completing law school, she served as judicial clerk to The Honorable John C. Godbold on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

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Barbra M. Beaulieu,
Primerica Financial Services

Barbra Beaulieu is the Senior Vice President of Tax at Primerica Inc. where she is responsible for all tax matters facing the Company. Primerica spun-off from its former parent company CitiHoldings, a subsidiary of CitiGroup, through an initial public offering that occurred on April 1, 2010. It is the largest financial services marketing organization in North America.Prior to joining Primerica, Barbra was with Lodgian Inc. as the Vice President of Tax, Internal Audit & Controls for 6 years and, prior to that, with Ernst & Young LLP where she worked for 6 years in the Global Tax Operate practice. She has extensive experience in the day-to-day operations of tax departments with strengths in bringing clarity to the chaotic environments of organizational change and growth brought on by today’s complex corporate transactions such as spin-offs, restructuring, reorganizations, and mergers and acquisitions. She also has an extensive background in audit and controls. She holds both a Bachelor of Accounting and Master in Taxation degrees from Florida Atlantic University, where she graduated Cum Laude. Ms. Beaulieu is a Certified Public Accountant licensed by the State of Georgia.

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Susan R. Boltacz,
SunTrust Banks, Inc.

Susan R. Boltacz is Group Vice President – Corporate Tax at SunTrust Bank. She has over 20 years’ experience in both private industry and public accounting. Prior to joining SunTrust, she led the Southeast Tax Controversy Services Practice for Deloitte Tax. She has also served as Senior Tax Counsel to BellSouth Corporation where she provided advice on employee benefits, tax aspects of structuring transactions and tax controversy matters. Susan has extensive experience representing tax-exempt investors in private equity and venture capital investments. She earned her law degree and M.B.A. from the University of Georgia and graduated magna cum laude with an Honors degree in Accounting from Marquette University. Susan is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Georgia Bar. She has held several positions in the ABA’s Section of Taxation, including Chair of the Regulated Public Utilities Committee. She is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Georgia State College of Law Taxpayer Clinic.

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Mary T. Benton,
Alston & Bird LLP

Mary concentrates her practice on controversy and litigation matters involving property, sales/use and income taxation. She also maintains a multistate transactional practice involving all tax types. She is a member of the firm’s economic incentives team, which assists clients in obtaining both negotiated and statutory incentives throughout Georgia and the Southeast. Mary has represented clients in property tax disputes in numerous jurisdictions, appearing before boards of equalization and arbitration panels, litigating matters in both bench and jury trials and practicing before the appellate courts. She has also managed multistate controversy and litigation matters involving sales, income and transfer taxes. Mary has significant experience in representing clients in negotiations of voluntary disclosure agreements with state revenue departments. She has been involved in numerous multistate transactions as state tax counsel, negotiating tax provisions and planning for state tax minimization.

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Jasper L. (Jack) Cummings,
Alston & Bird LLP

Jack Cummings is a member of Alston & Bird’s Federal Income Tax and State and Local Tax Groups. He has extensive experience in corporate merger and reorganization tax issues as well as state and local tax litigation. He has served as associate chief counsel (corporate) of the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C. Jack was chair of the Corporate Tax Committee of the American Bar Association Tax Section for 1997-1998. He serves on the advisory board of the D.C. Bar, Tax Section, Corporate Tax Committee. In addition, Jack is a frequent speaker and author on taxation topics, including authoring “Cummings’ Corporate Tax Insights,” an RIA Checkpoint electronic newsletter, and “What Were They Thinking,” a column in Tax Notes. He and Robert Hanson authored A Selective Analysis of the 2004 JOBs Act, published by Warren Gorhan & Lamont in 2005. Jack is listed in Super Lawyers magazine. Jack received his J.D. in 1971 from Yale Law School and his A.B., summa cum laude, in 1968 from Duke University. He received the LL.M. in Taxation from New York University in 1987.

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Michael J. Desmond, Partner,
Bingham McCutchen, LLP

Mike Desmond concentrates his practice on federal tax controversies, administrative dispute resolution and tax policy counseling. He served as Tax Legislative Counsel in the U.S. Department of Treasury from 2005 to 2008.As Tax Legislative Counsel, Mike supervised a staff of lawyers and accountants that developed administrative guidance and provided the Assistant Secretary (Tax Policy) with legal advice and analysis on a broad range of issues relating to the domestic federal tax law. In particular, he played a primary role in the development of new ethics and practice rules governing tax preparers, including lawyers and accountants, with respect to their interaction with the federal tax system. He also served as a spokesperson for the Treasury Department before the Congressional tax-writing committees, testifying before Congress on a number of occasions on a wide range of federal tax issues.Mike was named one of the country's leading practitioners in the field of taxation by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business 2009. A frequent speaker on tax policy and controversy matters, Mike has addressed audiences at conferences and seminars hosted by Tax Executives Institute (TEI), Practising Law Institute (PLI), Institutional Investor, The Tax Council and the American Bar Association (ABA). Mike is an active member of the ABA Section of Taxation, the Taxation Section of the D.C. Bar, the Tax Section of the New York State Bar Association and the Taxation of Business Entities Committee of the City Bar of New York. He serves as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center.Prior to joining the firm, Mike served as a trial attorney in the Attorney General’s Honors Program at the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he gained substantial experience litigating a wide variety of tax issues in the federal courts. From 1994 to 1995, he served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Ronald S.W. Lew in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Mike was the managing editor of the Catholic University Law Review.

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Lynn Fowler,
Kilpatrick Stockton LLP

Lynn is a partner at Kilpatrick Stockton LLP who focuses his practice on corporate and business tax law. He specializes in helping clients develop and implement tax-efficient strategies for varied business formation, financing, operations, and disposition transactions. He has been the lead tax advisor on numerous taxable and tax-free M&A transactions as well as a variety of other strategic corporate transactions. Lynn received a B.S. from the University of Alabama, a J.D. from the University of Alabama School Of Law and an LL.M. degree (in Taxation) from New York University.

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Clinton M. Fried,
Internal Revenue Service

Clint began his tenure with the Office of Chief Counsel in 1985 and since 2004 Clint has served as the Associate Area Counsel for the Large and Mid-Size Business Division, as the chief legal advisor for the IRS for large corporate matters arising in Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas and Mississippi. Clint has tried over thirty Tax Court cases as an attorney for IRS. He supervises senior tax lawyers providing tax advice and litigation support to the IRS and provides technical guidance, and oversight for all litigation and advisory activities performed by Group attorneys, which includes representing the IRS in U.S. Tax Court, providing advice and assistance to IRS officials concerning the collection and protection of taxes, and assisting the Department of Justice in civil proceedings. He holds a J.D. from the University of Georgia and an LL.M. from Emory University. Clint received his B.S. & M.A. from Georgia State University. Clint is married and has a daughter.

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Shelley Giberson,
PricewaterhouseCoopers

Shelley is an International Tax Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Atlanta, with over 14 years of international tax experience. In conjunction with her clients, Shelley develops international tax strategies to minimize global taxes and optimize a company's worldwide effective tax rate. She has extensive experience in developing acquisition/expansion strategies, tax efficient financing and cash repatriation strategies, and strategies to maximize the utilization of tax attributes. In addition to planning and consulting with her clients, Shelley has extensive experience with Accounting for Income Taxes and FIN 48. Prior to moving to Atlanta in July 2006, Shelley worked in the Seattle, Portland and London offices of PwC.

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Jeffrey C. Glickman,
Alston & Bird LLP

Jeff Glickman is a partner in the State & Local Tax Group. His practice focuses on multistate tax planning and business transactions. Mr. Glickman has experience in structuring business transactions and developing and implementing new business structures in a manner designed to achieve multistate tax efficiencies. He also advises clients on the state tax issues associated with sophisticated information technology sourcing arrangements. In addition to his transactional practice, Mr. Glickman maintains a multistate administrative tax dispute and negotiation practice, including obtaining letter rulings, preparing and negotiating “amnesty” applications and assisting clients during audits.Mr. Glickman has authored or contributed to articles appearing in various national tax journals, and is a frequent lecturer on state and local tax topics, with an emphasis on income taxation, sales/use taxation, state tax aspects of mergers/acquisitions and other business transactions, and constitutional issues in state taxation. He has addressed audiences at conferences, seminars, teleconferences, and webinars sponsored by COST, the Tax Executives Institute, Lorman Education Services, Interstate Tax Corporation, the National Business Institute, ICLE, Strafford, The Knowledge Congress, and the Atlanta Tax Forum. He is on the editorial board of The Tax Lawyer: The State and Local Tax Edition and The State and Local Tax Lawyer: Symposium Edition, and he co-authored the BNA Portfolio on Georgia Corporate Taxes. Mr. Glickman also serves as an adjunct professor at Emory Law School, where he teaches a class in multistate taxation.Mr. Glickman received his LL.M. in Taxation in 1999 and his J.D. in 1998 from New York University School of Law, and he received his B.S., with distinction, from Cornell University in 1995. He is a member of the Taxation Sections of the State Bar of Georgia, American Bar Association and Atlanta Bar Association. Mr. Glickman is active civically as a volunteer with the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program and a member of The Epstein School Legal Services Committee.

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Donald P. Hensel,
King & Spalding LLP

Don is a partner in the tax department of King & Spalding LLP’s Atlanta Office. His practice concentrates on corporate, partnership, real estate, and international tax matters, with a particular emphasis on corporate mergers, acquisitions and restructuring transactions. Don received his J.D. degree, magna cum laude, in 1995 from the Harvard Law School, where he served as an Editor of the Harvard Law Review. After law school, Don clerked for the Honorable R. Lanier Anderson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is a member of the Corporate Tax Committee of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association.

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Tammy Y. Hunter,
KPMG, LLP

Tammy Young Hunter is a Partner in the State and Local Tax practice with KPMG LLP in the Atlanta office. She has over 19 years of experience in state and local taxation. She is the National Leader of Income and Franchise Taxes for KPMG. Prior to joining KPMG LLP, Tammy was a partner at another firm. She was admitted to KPMG as a direct entry partner in April of 2006. She has also held tax positions in the corporate tax departments of several Fortune 500 companies. Tammy has been involved with assisting numerous Global clients with their state and local tax issues including mergers and acquisition assistance, nexus reviews, audit assistance, tax provision reviews, incentives and other special projects. In her role as the Leader of SALT Income and Franchise Tax group, Tammy has led the development of several technology applications used by the firm to deliver its tax services including state e workpapers and the RAR tool. She is a former chair of Atlanta’s KPMG Network of Women.Tammy has authored or co-authored articles appearing in the Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives and the Interstate Tax Report. She has been a speaker at various TEI Chapters, The Council on State Taxation, and Georgetown University Law Center’s State and Local Tax Institute and the Paul J. Hartman State Tax Forum. Tammy received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Georgia and her Masters of Taxation from Georgia State University. She is a CPA and a member of the Georgia Society of CPA’s and the AICPA. Tammy serves on the Board of CURE Childhood cancer and founded The Hayley Hunter Research Fund (a CURE Named Fund) in February of 2009 to raise money in support of pediatric cancer research.

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Jeffrey A. Markowitz,
Miles & Stockbridge, P.C.

Jeff Markowitz engages in a wide range of sophisticated tax areas including corporate tax, partnership tax and international tax. He has represented companies ranging from multi-national corporations engaged in mergers and acquisitions to start-up entrepreneurial clients. Mr. Markowitz has provided tax and business structuring advice on strategic joint ventures, creative employee equity compensation and cross border tax planning. His practice also includes sophisticated tax structurings to minimize state and local taxes including sales taxes, state income taxes and recordation and transfer taxes. Mr. Markowitz is a frequent lecturer in the area of choice of business entity including the use of limited liability companies. He has served on two ad hoc committees of the Maryland State Bar dealing with revisions to the Maryland General Partnership Act and the Maryland Limited Partnership Act. Mr. Markowitz assists members of the corporate practice group in the tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions. In the international area, Mr. Markowitz has given advice to both offshore companies establishing businesses in the United States and U.S. companies establishing business abroad. He has also advised companies with respect to cross-border merger and acquisition issues. Mr. Markowitz is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law where he has taught business planning at both the law school and graduate tax program and advance real estate tax planning and corporate taxation at the graduate tax program. Mr. Markowitz was elected chair of the Maryland State Bar Tax Section for 2003 and has served on the Tax Section Council of the Maryland State Bar since 2000. In addition, Mr. Markowitz is a long-standing participant in the Maryland Advanced Tax Institute, which he chaired in 2000. Mr. Markowitz has advised several privately held entrepreneurial companies regarding limited liability company structuring to combine income and estate planning whereby older generation ownership can pass growth through to younger generations with minimal gift and income tax consequences. Mr. Markowitz's practice also includes sophisticated real estate transactions, including tax-free exchanges under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, structuring transactions to ensure capital gains treatment on real property proposed for development and structuring real estate joint ventures.

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Daniel McKeithen,
Sutherland

Danny McKeithen is a member of Sutherland’s Tax Practice Group and works in the areas of federal and state tax planning and tax controversies. His practice focuses on corporate income tax issues, including those associated with both taxable and tax-free mergers and acquisitions, liquidations and spin-offs, and other distributions. Danny has worked extensively with the rules concerning the carryover and utilization of net operating losses and other tax attributes, the special tax rules applicable to bankruptcy and out-of-court workout situations, and the complicated issues that arise in transactions among affiliated and related parties. He also works closely with various financial institutions on problems that arise under special provisions of the law applicable to such taxpayers.Danny advises numerous closely held businesses that have elected S corporation status on the intricacies of these rules. He also has extensive background and experience counseling real estate investment trusts (REITs), including clients on the leading edge of the use of these structures in the timber and forest products industry. Further, Danny regularly advises clients dealing with various tax accounting concerns, including situations involving below-market loans, imputed interest, and the Tax Code’s time value of money provisions.

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Mark S. Mesler,
Ernst & Young

Mark joined Ernst & Young in 2000 after a 12-year career representing the IRS. He was a trial attorney for IRS Chief Counsel where he represented the agency before the U.S. Tax and Bankruptcy Courts. He specialized in complex litigation and bankruptcy matters. Mark was also designated a Special Assistant United States Attorney. Mark is the Southeast Area Director of E&Y’s Tax Controversy & Risk Management Services. He represents clients before the IRS. He also advises our clients on reportable transactions, penalty abatements, collection matters, and bankruptcy issues. Mark received his law degree from Georgia State University where he concentrated in tax law and litigation. He is also a graduate of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy’s Tax Litigation course. Mark is a frequent speaker at legal and accounting seminars on IRS practice, tax litigation, and bankruptcy tax issues. He is also the author of several papers on these subjects.

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Henry H. Miyares,
PricewaterhouseCoopers

Henry, a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers, is a dedicated resource in the firm's Washington National Tax Services Mergers & Acquisitions Tax Services practice and has a broad range of experience in providing tax consulting advice to public and private companies in various industries, including manufacturing, distribution, retail, financial services, media, telecommunications, technology and professional services. Henry has extensive tax consulting experience, including analyzing tax planning and structuring considerations, assisting in the resolution of IRS examinations and obtaining rulings from the IRS National Office. Henry has participated in numerous domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, corporate inversions, spin-offs, tax-free reorganizations and corporate restructurings, strategies for preservation and utilization of net operating losses and other tax attributes, debt restructurings and bankruptcy reorganizations.

Henry joined PwC in 1982 after receiving Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Master of Accounting degrees from the University of Florida. He has worked in the Tampa, Washington, DC, Atlanta and Washington National Tax Services offices of the firm. He also leads PwC's relationship and recruitment efforts at the University of Florida and is a member of the Fisher School of Accounting Advisory Council. Henry is a Certified Public Accountant licensed to practice in Washington, DC, Georgia and Florida.

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Carol E. Morgan,
The University of Georgia School of Law

Carol Morgan joined the faculty of the University of Georgia School of Law in 2008 to develop and coordinate the law school’s Business Law and Ethics Program and to teach tranasactional skills-based courses, including Anatomy of an M&A Deal, Business Negotiations, and Corporate Counsel Externship.Morgan previously served as president of National Service Industries, Inc. in Atlanta, GA where she enjoyed a 25-year career. Prior to becoming president, Morgan was a member of NSI's legal department and served as senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary. Her particular areas of focus included mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance matters, corporate ethics and compliance programs, and management of complex litigation.She earned her bachelor's degree with distinction from Rhodes College and her Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Georgia.

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Kristin Myers,
Cousins Properties Incorporated

Kristin Myers is Vice President – Taxation, for Cousins Properties Incorporated. Kristin is responsible for all aspects of tax management and planning for the Cousins organization, including tax forecasting and planning and adhering to all tax-related REIT rules. Over her 14 years with Cousins, Kristin has continually managed the tax function and was also charged with managing the human resource function for a number of years. Before joining Cousins, Kristin was a senior tax professional with Arthur Andersen in Atlanta. She earned her B.S. and Masters degrees at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee. Kristin is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Senior Professional of Human Resources (SPHR). She is an active member of NAREIT (National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts) where she is a member of NAREIT's Federal Tax Subcommittee and State and Local Tax Subcommittee.
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Carrie S. Parker,
PricewaterhouseCoopers

Carrie has a broad range of experience in providing tax consulting advice to public and private companies in various industries, including transaction structuring considerations and due diligence investigations. She has participated in numerous M&A transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, spin-offs, tax-free reorganizations and corporate restructurings, strategies for preservation and utilization of net operating losses and other tax attributes, and debt restructurings.

Carrie joined the firm in 1996, after receiving a Masters of Tax Accounting from the University of Alabama. Carrie received her Bachelor of Professional Accountancy from Mississippi State University in 1995. She is a licensed CPA in the state of Georgia and holds memberships in both the AICPA and Georgia Society of CPAs.

Carrie completed a secondment with the M&A Tax practice of the firm’s Washington National Tax Services office in 2005. She is a frequent speaker on M&A tax issues at the firm’s national training courses and in the Atlanta tax community.

Carrie serves as Secretary and Treasurer for The Healing Place Charity Championship. She also is a member of the Corporate Leadership Council at Fernbank Museum of Natural History. Carrie has volunteered in numerous capacities over the past several years with the East Lake Foundation, most recently as a HOSTS math mentor at Drew Charter School in the East Lake Community.

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Mark S. Robinson,
Synovus Financial Corp.

Mark Robinson is a Group Executive in Taxation for Synovus Financial Corporation, a Georgia based bank holding company with thirty separately-chartered affiliated banks and non-bank financial services companies operated in the southeast region. He is responsible for all federal and state tax matters including income taxes, transaction based taxes, capital taxes and privilege/license taxes related to Synovus Financial Corporation and its affiliates. Some of his other responsibilities include: tax compliance, tax planning, financial reporting for taxes, tax accounting, examinations and appeals, acquisition and disposition transactions, technical support provided to business units, legislative assistance and SOX 404 tax compliance. Mark earned his BBA in Accounting as well as his Masters of Business Administration at Columbus State University. He has served on the American Bankers Association Tax Committee, the Alabama Bankers Association Tax Committee and the Georgia Bankers Association Tax Committee. He has also served on the State Tax Advisory Committee of the State Bar of Georgia for which, activities were related to general administration and property tax simplification and fairness. He currently serves as the campaign Treasurer for State Representative Debbie Buckner.
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William B. Wood,
Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP

William B. Wood is a partner in the Firm’s Tax Section, with experience in general corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, state legislative law and state and local taxation.A member of the State Bar of Georgia, Mr. Wood has handled significant state and local tax matters for numerous Georgia and multi-state corporations and serves as Georgia state and local tax counsel for several national businesses. Mr. Wood has served as general counsel to several national businesses and has served as lender’s counsel on bond financing and as borrower’s counsel on numerous bank loans for clients. A member of the firm’s Sustainability Group, Mr. Wood advises clients in the recycling and renewable energy industries and assists clients in addressing Georgia green income tax credits. Mr. Wood has drafted numerous pieces of legislation introduced in the Georgia General Assembly, some of which became a law through his lobbying efforts.In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Wood has been actively involved in the Firm’s management through the years. Mr. Wood has served on the Firm’s Executive Committee and as Chair of the Firm’s Partner Compensation Committee and Hiring and Professional Personnel Committees. He has also served as a Section and Department leader.A native of Georgia, Mr. Wood attended the University of Georgia where he received his B.B.A. degree in economics in 1970; his M.B.A. degree in finance in 1975; and his J.D. degree in 1979. Mr. Wood held the office of Assistant Attorney General in the Georgia Department of Law for three years before joining the firm in January 1983. During this period, he handled the State of Georgia’s tax exempt financing and represented the Georgia Department of Revenue in numerous tax cases.Mr. Wood has spoken on Georgia tax issues for National Business Institute and Lorman Business Center, Inc. seminar panels and the Georgia Institute of Continuing Legal Education. Mr. Wood co-authored an article for the Georgia State Bar Journal on tax appeal procedures plus written numerous articles that have been published in Trust the Leaders and Georgia Forestry Today magazines.Mr. Wood is a member of the Adjunct Faculty at the University of Georgia School of Law and is currently teaching a class on corporate tax.Mr. Wood is a frequent visitor to both Boy and Girl Scout Troop campouts assisting them with their Astronomy merit badges. Mr. Wood is a veteran having served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1970-1973 attaining the rank of LTJG.

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