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Taylor English: A Unique Legal Model for Client Success, with Marc Taylor and Michele Stumpe

October 23, 2024 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Taylor English: A Unique Legal Model for Client Success, with Marc Taylor and Michele Stumpe

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Taylor English: A Unique Legal Model for Client Success, with Marc Taylor and Michele Stumpe (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 811)

In this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray welcomes Marc Taylor and Michele Stumpe, partners at Taylor English, as they discuss the rapid growth and client-focused approach of their law firm. Taylor English started with just four lawyers in the mid-2000s and has expanded to around 140 attorneys across multiple states. The conversation highlights the firm’s unique value-driven philosophy, real-time compensation system, and emphasis on personal care for their professionals, flexibility, and entrepreneurial spirit. Marc and Michele explain how these elements attract top legal talent and cater to small and midsized businesses while maintaining strong client relationships. Michele shares her transition from big law and highlights the firm’s community involvement, including support for charities like The Giving Kitchen. The discussion also covers the firm’s commitment to core values amidst growth, fostering a collaborative culture among staff, and staying purpose-driven to provide unique client value.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is recorded and produced by the North Fulton affiliate of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Taylor English Duma LLP

Together, their attorneys work each day to provide timely, creative, and cost-effective counsel to help clients solve problems and achieve goals. Taylor English represents all types of clients, from Fortune 500 companies to start ups to individuals.

The firm is the Georgia law firm member of GGI Global Alliance AG, the leading worldwide alliance of accounting and law firms.

Website | LinkedIn | X (Twitter) | YouTube

Marc Taylor, Partner, Taylor English Duma LLP

Innovative corporate leadership and its positive impact on his clients’ success is Marc Taylor’s passion. Mr. Taylor believes in seizing opportunities for his clients, representing many industry sectors with both astute conscientiousness and considered pragmatism. From organizational policy reviews to multimillion-dollar transactions through to exit strategies, Mr. Taylor has provided corporate counsel to businesses and their executives with an eye on their future.

Along with his colleagues, Mr. Taylor has helped drive the growth of Taylor English from four lawyers to approximately 180 lawyers today, making the firm the fastest-growing law firm in Georgia and one of the fastest-growing firms in the country. In his law practice, he represents management in corporate leadership, litigation and risk mitigation and labor and employment relationships.

When corporate matters lead to litigation, Mr. Taylor has proudly advocated for clients in hundreds of matters. He is comfortable leading the defense of his clients due to his experience as trial counsel in federal and state courts throughout the country.

In representations involving employees, Mr. Taylor handles matters for employers ranging from individual and class action discrimination lawsuits to state law defamation and tort claims. Mr. Taylor has successfully represented employers in federal and state courts, as well as administrative proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and various state agencies in more than 30 states.

Before forming Taylor English Duma LLP, Mr. Taylor practiced law at an Atlanta-based, full service law firm, serving as a partner from 1997-2005 and as in-house employment counsel at Medaphis Corp. (now McKesson Corp.), a company with more than 10,000 employees, from 1995-1997. While serving as in-house employment counsel, he was responsible for investigating and handling all employment-related disputes. In this role, he developed and implemented nationwide employment law training programs and an alternative dispute resolution program that succeeded in reducing Medaphis’ employment-related lawsuits by 75 percent in a two-year period.

Mr. Taylor has been a frequent speaker at seminars that focus on topics involving a full range of law firm and legal department management, corporate strategy and employment relationship issues.

He is married and has three children.

Firm Website | LinkedIn

Michele Stumpe, Partner, Taylor English Duma LLP

Michele Stumpe is a seasoned litigator with both plaintiff and defense experience who is a trusted adviser to clients in the hospitality and retail industries. Ms. Stumpe is a certified mediator both in Georgia and East Africa. At Taylor English, she focuses her practice on hospitality and dram shop litigation, alcohol licensing and consulting, premises liability and dispute resolution. Known as one of the top attorneys in the Southeast for alcohol licensing and permits, Ms. Stumpe provides clients with a full range of services, including licensing, training, policy implementation, risk management, and legal representation.

In addition to her hospitality practice, Ms. Stumpe represents individuals and corporations in general litigation matters. She is a strategic partner who helps evaluate clients’ policies, procedures and implementation to minimize litigation risks. Ms. Stumpe is also passionate about early case assessment and resolution. She provides consulting services for various trade associations, including the Georgia Restaurant Association (GRA), Georgia Food Industry Association (GFIA) and the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores (GACS). In 2002, she developed “The Responsible Alcohol Sales & Service” (RASS) workshops to educate hospitality owners on the legal responsibilities of serving alcohol to consumers. The program was so well received that many Georgia jurisdictions now require attendance as a prerequisite to obtaining an alcohol license.

Business groups frequently ask Ms. Stumpe to speak on early case resolution, negotiation, conflict resolution and alcohol sales compliance issues. She has been a featured speaker at trade associations, legal education and law enforcement seminars, and consumer radio programs. Her exemplary work has been recognized through a host of awards, including the Georgia Restaurant Association Chairman’s Award, Atlanta Magazine’s Women Making a Mark and a special Conservation Award presented by Jane Goodall.

Ms. Stumpe enjoys volunteer work, scuba diving, gardening and golf when not practicing law. She is a co-founder of The Giving Kitchen, an Atlanta non-profit organization that provides crisis medical funds to employees in the hospitality industry. Ms. Stumpe also travels to Africa annually to work with underprivileged children and endangered wildlife through another non-profit that she co-founded, Children of Conservation. The organization provides scholarships to over 400 schoolchildren in Africa.

Firm Website | LinkedIn

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:00 Introduction and Welcome to North Fulton Business Radio
01:46 Meet the Guests: Marc Taylor and Michele Stumpe
02:02 The Story of Taylor English
03:34 Growth and Client Service Philosophy
05:33 Michele’s Journey and Entrepreneurial Spirit
09:12 The Unique Model of Taylor English
15:26 Client Relationships and Firm Culture
16:51 Adapting to New Challenges
18:42 Client Relationships and Problem Solving
19:36 Handling Client Pain Points
21:23 Challenges of Rapid Growth
23:26 Expanding in Other Metro Regions
27:31 Maintaining the Original Vision
32:44 Contact Information and Closing Remarks

Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $17 billion in assets and more than 180 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 800 shows and having featured over 1,200 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!

The show welcomes a wide variety of business, non-profit, and community leaders to get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession. There’s no discrimination based on company size, and there’s never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignore. Some media leans left. Some media leans right. We lean business.

John Ray, Business RadioX - North Fulton, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors — **John Ray, Business RadioX – North Fulton, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors**

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is recorded and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

The studio address is 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

John Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the national bestselling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.

Jonathan Wilson, Taylor English Duma

August 24, 2020 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Jonathan Wilson, Taylor English Duma

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Jonathan Wilson, Taylor English Duma (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 275)

Jonathan Wilson of Taylor English Duma joins host John Ray to discuss his wide-ranging work as a business attorney, including how he helps with financings, business sales and transitions, and much more. “North Fulton Business Radio” is produced virtually by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta.

Jonathan Wilson, Partner, Taylor English Duma

Jonathan B. Wilson is an experienced business lawyer who enjoys solving complex business and transactional problems for clients. He applies his more than 25 years of experience as an in-house lawyer, business adviser and strategist to help business executives and owners achieve negotiated solutions to technology and financial transactions.

Mr. Wilson is a member of the firm’s Corporate and Business Department and his practice includes corporate securities, corporate finance and governance, mergers and acquisitions, and intellectual property. He represents Fortune 100, middle-market and start-up companies.

Mr. Wilson was the general counsel or chief legal officer of Interland Inc., Web.com Group Inc. and EasyLink Services International Corp., where he advised senior management and the boards of directors on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting, NASDAQ compliance, Sarbanes-Oxley matters, corporate governance, governmental affairs, contracts, litigation, intellectual property and mergers and acquisitions.

Mr. Wilson led Web.com’s legal department through its growth and merger with Website Pros Inc. in September 2007, at various times acting as the corporate secretary and the executive in charge of corporate development.

Mr. Wilson spent the first 10 years of his career in private practice with large Atlanta law firms, including a leading international firm and one of the nation’s most prestigious corporate firms.

Mr. Wilson has represented both large and small companies in outsourcing, patent licensing, software licensing, distribution and strategic alliance agreements.

In 2009, Mr. Wilson founded the Renewable Energy Committee of the American Bar Association’s Public Utility Section, and he chaired that committee, writing and speaking frequently on renewable energy and clean technology development through 2015.

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Taylor English Duma website

Questions/Topics Discussed in this Show

Start-ups – What makes them successful and pitfalls to avoid.
Financing your company – What types of financing exist and which are better suited for different business
Crowdfunding – What is it and does it really matter?
Selling your company – How does the process work (and how your attorney can help).
Lawsuits – How to avoid them and why they are almost always a bad idea for both sides!
Lawyers – How a good one can help your business grow (and how to figure out which are the good ones)

North Fulton Business Radio” is hosted by John Ray and produced virtually from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Yoshi Domoto with Japan-America Society of Georgia & JapanFest, Brittany Luiz with American Tombow and Masae Okura with Taylor English Duma

August 16, 2018 by Mike

Gwinnett Business Radio

Yoshi Domoto with Japan-America Society of Georgia & JapanFest, Brittany Luiz with American Tombow and Masae Okura with Taylor English Duma

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Brittany Luiz, Yoshi Domoto, Masae Okura

Yoshi Domoto/Japan-America Society of Georgia and JapanFest

The Japan-America Society of Georgia (JASG) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to promote mutual understanding between the people of Japan and the state of Georgia through establishing and promoting ties and programs in the areas of business, culture, customs, education, commerce, politics, and social networking. One of its biggest events is JapanFest Atlanta. JapanFest is the largest Japanese festival in the Southeast. Held September 15-16, 2018 at the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Saturday and 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Sunday, the festival will celebrate the special economic and cultural bond Japan and Georgia share together.

Brittany Luiz/American Tombow

Tombow is today’s market leader for arts, crafts and office products. Serving consumers and businesses around the globe, Tombow was established in Japan in 1913 as the wood-case pencil provider for Japanese students. Since these beginnings, they have upheld a history of unparalleled customer service. Tombow has grown the company’s portfolio to a worldwide provider of art markers, liquid glue and adhesive tape, fine writing pens, correction tape, drawing pencils, colored pencils and erasers manufactured in facilities located in Japan, Vietnam and Thailand. Worldwide operating divisions distribute Tombow branded products in their respective geographies.

Masae Y. Okura/Taylor English Duma

Taylor English Duma LLP is a full-service law firm headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Built from the ground up to provide highest-quality legal services for optimal value, the firm combines the best aspects of a traditional law firm with seasoned attorneys managing their practices remotely throughout the United States. Their attorneys work each day to provide timely, creative, and cost-effective counsel to help clients solve problems and achieve goals. Taylor English Duma represents all types of clients, from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups to individuals. A 2018 recipient of Forbes Small Giants award, the firm is the Georgia law firm member of Geneva Group International (GGI), the leading worldwide alliance of accounting and law firms.

Special Edition: Georgia Society of CPAs

June 19, 2015 by angishields

Atlanta Business Radio

Special Edition: Georgia Society of CPAs

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Today’s episode features guests who are members of the Georgia Society of CPAs.

Joel Pascaner/Jones and Kolb

Joel L. Pascaner is a tax principal specializing in high net worth individuals, privately held entities, partnerships, S corporations, estates and trusts, not-for-profit organizations, and state and local tax matters. He also has extensive experience representing taxpayers before the IRS as well as numerous other taxing jurisdictions.

Joel is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, and The Leaderhship Team of the Tax Section of the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants. He has been an at-large member of the GSCPA Council. In addition, he has served as the Chairman of the Tax Section of the GSCPA as well as both the Federal Tax Legislation and the Georgia Tax Legislation Subcommittees of the GSCPA Tax Section, where he was involved in the drafting and introduction of proposed legislation. He is also a Past Chairman of the Depreciation Committee and the Tax Accounting Problems Committee of the NYSSCPA. Mr. Pascaner was a member of the GSCPA 2006 Tax Forum Planning Committee and served as Moderator at the Forum’s Luncheons with Georgia Tax Commissioner Bart Graham. He was awarded “2006 Distinguished Section Leader” by the GSCPA and served on their Task Force on Employment. Joel is a member of the Atlanta Tax Forum and the Atlanta Estate Planning Council. He is a graduate of the Philanthropic Advisor Leadership Institute and was awarded the “Best in Client Satisfaction Wealth Manager” by Atlanta Magazine for years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014.

Joel has authored numerous articles in professional and industry publications including the CPA Journal and the Taxation for Accountants.

He has served on the Board of Directors of the Interfaith Disabilities Network and the Board of Trustees of Georgia Shakespeare. He is currently on the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Finance Committee of the Atlanta Film Festival.

Prior to joining Jones and Kolb, Joel practiced as a tax professional with Stephen M. Berman & Associates, L.L.C, Laventhol & Horwath and Peat Marwick.

Joel is a CPA and received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania as well as his Masters of Science in Taxation at the Long Island University

John Masters, CPA, PC

John Masters earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1969, followed by his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 1975, and finally his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1979. During this period he was employed eight years in the Computer, Aerospace, and Electronics industries. During 1979 he was admitted to the Georgia Bar and received his certificate to practice as a Certified Public Accountant in Georgia and Alabama.

John has been active in professional, civic, and political activities throughout his career. He presently serves on the Georgia Society of Certified Pubic Accountants Professional Ethics Committee, and recently completed his term as Chairman of the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants Tax Section. He has served as a SBA Score/Ace Volunteer Consultant, taught in the Junior Achievement Program and been a Future Business Leaders of America sponsor. He administered the “Call the Expert” on taxation program for 21 years at WGST News Radio where he also appeared as Tax Series Guest/Host. He has participated in various other radio and television tax related programs, testified at administrative hearings including the Georgia Special Council on Taxation, and held positions in other organizations.

John has taught courses at Oglethorpe University, Clayton Junior College (now Clayton State College) and the Becker CPA Review Course. For the last several years he has been an active member of the Dekalb Peachtree Squadron, Georgia Wing, of the Civil Air Patrol where he currently holds the rank of Major, and has been an active member of the Northside Atlanta Jaycees and the Decatur Dekalb Kiwanis Club. His is currently a member of the American Bar Association, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Georgia Bar Association, Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants.

John practices in Atlanta, Georgia principally in the areas of taxation and accounting, taxpayer representation before administrative bodies and tax tribunals, and related fields.

Julian Fortuna / Taylor English Duma LLP

Julian A. Fortuna is a member of the Corporate and Business practice group at Taylor English Duma LLP where he practices business and tax law with a focus on domestic and international tax planning for business entities, owners and executives. He also represents clients in tax controversy matters before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Georgia Department of Revenue, United States Tax Court, Georgia Tax Tribunal and various other federal, state, local and foreign tax authorities and judicial bodies. With more than 30 years of professional tax experience, Mr. Fortuna is capable of handling all tax matters related to the formation, financing, operation, restructuring, and disposition of a wide variety of business entities.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Fortuna was Vice President and General Tax Counsel for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) where he was responsible for structuring the domestic and international tax impacts of numerous mergers, acquisitions, dispositions and other corporate transactions, as well as construction projects, leases, exchanges, and other real and personal property transactions. Mr. Fortuna was responsible for state and local tax matters (including property, sales/use and occupancy taxes). He also directed tax research and planning for cross-border financing, captive insurance, and the worldwide use of trade names and other intangible assets. He represented IHG before the IRS and various other tax authorities on audits, appeals, and ruling requests, and pursued tax regulatory and legislative changes for the benefit of IHG with US Treasury and Congressional personnel in Washington, DC.

Prior to joining IHG, Mr. Fortuna spent 11 years in the tax department at Deloitte and Touche where he served a variety of corporate and individual clients, and prior to that he served four years in the US Treasury Department at Office of the Chief Counsel for the IRS where he was responsible for litigation in the United States Tax Court.

Structuring and Managing Investment Portfolios

May 27, 2015 by Mike

Gwinnett Studio

Structuring and Managing Investment Portfolios

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Bill Leonard, Robert Port, Craig Frankel, Lane Steinberger

On this episode of “Wealth Matters”, hosts Craig Frankel and Robert Port discuss the issues and challenges in structuring and managing an investment portfolio with their guests Bill Leonard and Lane Steinberger.

Bill Leonard/Taylor English Duma LLP

Bill Leonard, a partner at Taylor English Duma LLP, has over three decades of experience in litigation involving securities and investments, liability of directors, officers, managers, and partners of businesses, shareholder and member rights and fiduciary duties, accountant and auditor liability, law firm liability, and banking law. His experience includes class actions, lawsuits in federal and state courts in many different states, and arbitrations. Mr. Leonard is also a trained mediator and has served as an arbitrator for securities disputes. He conducts internal investigations into potential wrongdoing by officers, directors, and employees of corporations. He has represented officers, directors, accountants, brokers, and other professionals in investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the New York Stock Exchange, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and the Department of Justice. He has represented investors, stockbrokers, and brokerage firms in lawsuits and FINRA arbitrations concerning stocks, bonds, and options.

Mr. Leonard has been counsel to parties in litigation involving insurance coverage, restrictive covenants, tax sharing agreements, mergers and acquisitions, computer software, and other business disputes. He has represented shareholders in asserting dissenters’ rights in connection with corporate mergers and asset sales. He has also handled fiduciary litigation in several contexts, such as the representation of employees in litigation against trustees and corporate sponsors of ERISA plans to recover benefits and for breach of fiduciary duty, waste, and conflicting interest transactions.

Mr. Leonard investigated and asserted claims as counsel to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation against directors, officers, and attorneys of failed financial institutions in several states. As counsel to the National Credit Union Administration, he headed the investigation and assertion of claims against directors, officers, and attorneys of two Massachusetts credit unions, including uncovering the largest real estate fraud in United States credit union history.

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/bill-leonard/1b/68a/916

LinkedIn Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/taylor-english-duma-llp

Lane Steinberger/Redwood Wealth Management

As chief investment officer, Lane Steinberger brings more than 20 years of experience in the world of finance and investing to Redwood Wealth Management. Lane also comes from a long line of entrepreneurs, including his grandfather and father, who owned a grocery store and furniture business in Statesville, N.C., that was established in the early 1900s

Lane’s path to Redwood started with Bank of America in Charlotte, N.C., advising clients on the foreign currency markets and derivative strategies, his first job after attending North Carolina State University. From there, it was on to international finance studies in Vienna, Austria, and Bangalore, India, as part of the University of South Carolina’s nationally ranked International MBA program.

He joined BellSouth in 2000, where he managed a $5 billion fixed income/bond portfolio for the company’s pension fund while also working as the fund’s asset allocation strategist, managing the asset allocation of the entire pension portfolio.

After BellSouth, Lane finally followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and started Alexander Investment Advisory, which later merged into Redwood.

Today, he holds both the Chartered Financial Analyst® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designations, a distinction shared by few advisors. He intends to be a lifelong student since he is now currently working towards a Doctorate in Business at Georgia State University.

He has also served as a board member and media/communications head of the CFA Society of Atlanta and volunteers on the budget and finance committee for the JF&CS charity.

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lanesteinberger

LinkedIn Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/redwood-wealth-management-llc

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/RedwoodWealthManagement

About Gaslowitz Frankel:

Gaslowitz Frankel is an experienced trial practice firm specializing in all aspects of complex fiduciary litigation throughout Georgia and the Southeast. With a focus on representing individuals, companies, banks, and fiduciaries in dispute involving wills, estates, trusts, guardianships, businesses, and securities law, their experienced and highly qualified litigation attorneys have tremendous credentials and a proven history of success.

If you would like to listen to past episodes of “Wealth Matters’, please visit their You Tube Channel.

Remember to tune in on the 4th Wednesday of every month at 8:30 AM to listen live to their show!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EstateDispute

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstateDispute

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/estatedispute

Roundtable Discussion on The Current State of The Legal Profession

June 11, 2012 by angishields

Burr Forman's Results Matter Radio

Roundtable Discussion on The Current State of The Legal Profession

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Today was a roundtable discussion on Burr & Forman Results Matter with four top attorneys discussing the current state of the legal profession.

Lee Thuston/Burr & Forman

Lee Thuston is Burr & Forman’s Managing Partner. He served as Alabama Counsel during the site selection and negotiation processes for Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc., The Boeing Company, Mi-Tech Steel, Inc. and IPSCO Steel when these companies chose to locate their facilities in the State of Alabama. He assisted Honda Manufacturing of Alabama with the implementation of its incentives package with the State of Alabama for the development of its plant in Lincoln, Alabama. Lee also negotiated the incentives packages with the State for the recent Mercedes-Benz and Honda plant expansions in Alabama. Additionally, he assisted with negotiations on behalf of both DaimlerChrysler AG and Michigan Automotive Compressor Inc. (an affiliate of Toyoda Industries) during their site selection and incentives negotiation processes with the State of Georgia. Lee also assisted Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, LLC with the implementation of its incentive package with the State of Alabama for the development of its plant in Montgomery, Alabama. Lee oversaw the site selection process for a new transmission manufacturing facility being developed by Honda Motor Company in Tallapoosa, Georgia.

In 2006, Lee and his partner, Warren Matthews, assisted with the site selection process for KIA Motors Corporation for a new automobile manufacturing facility to be located in West Point, Georgia. Most recently, Lee and Warren Matthews represented both ThyssenKrupp AG and National Steel Car, Ltd in their site selection and negotiation processes to locate manufacturing facilities in Mobile and Muscle Shoals, Alabama. To date, Lee has worked on new economic development projects and expansions representing over $15 billion of capital investment and the creation of thousands of new jobs.

Lee is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the General Corporate Law and Economic Development categories. He is also listed in Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, including being named for the past four years as a “Leader in their Field”, and Alabama Super Lawyers. Lee and colleagues Louis Anders and Warren Matthews co-authored Alabama Limited Liability Company Forms and Practice Manual. Lee is a Fellow of the Alabama Law Foundation, as well as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, both of which recognize significant contributions to the legal profession and the community. In 1994, he served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Birmingham Bar Association and as President in 2005. After law school, Lee served as law clerk to the Honorable Richard L. Jones, Associate Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. He is licensed to practice in both Alabama and Tennessee.

Michael Sullivan/Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge, & Rice

Michael Sullivan is the Managing Partner of Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge, & Rice‘s Atlanta office. When it comes to senior-level strategic guidance in mass tort product liability litigation and other large-scale commercial litigation, clients turn to Michael.

Michael brings nearly three decades of experience in “bet-the-company” cases. He serves in the role of “outside General Counsel” or Coordinating Counsel, providing big-picture advice to craft successful litigation strategies, increase efficiencies and contain costs. Michael collaborates with clients on a wide range of high-end business problems, including mass tort litigation.

He spent 10 years as National Coordinating Counsel, Chief Litigator and Case Manager guiding a global automotive company through national asbestos friction litigation. In this role, he coordinated the efforts of a national network of 35 defense firms, as well as the company’s in-house legal team.

Michael has particular experience serving the automotive industry, including Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers, as well as closely held and family owned businesses. He also has extensive litigation experience in the software, information technology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

Michael is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel and a Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America.

Michael Trotter/Taylor English Duma, LLP

Michael H. Trotter is a Partner the “New Model” law firm of Taylor English Duma, LLP. He received his law degree from the Harvard Law School in 1962 and his B.A. degree from Brown University cum laude (Phi Beta Kappa) in 1958. Prior to attending law school, he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in the Harvard University Ph.D. Program in American History and was awarded a Master’s Degree in History in 1959. His law practice in Atlanta has focused on corporate transactions and finance, as well as on family business.

Mr. Trotter’s studies of law firm growth and change have combined the perspectives of a successful practicing attorney, an experienced law firm manager, and a historian. As a partner in two of the largest and most successful firms in America (the predecessors of Alston & Bird and of Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton) and three entrepreneurial law firms, he has been a keen student of the economics and ethos of modern law practice.

Mr. Trotter has written and spoken frequently on law firm management, operations and economics, and the cost- effective delivery of legal services including “Profit and the Practice of Law” which is the definitive work on growth and change in the legal profession in America between 1960 and 1995, and his soon to be released book “Declining Prospects” about the continuing transformation of the legal profession in the United States. He has also been a columnist for Atlanta’s legal newspaper, The Daily Report, and he is the author of Pig in a Poke? The Uncertain Advantages of Very Large and Highly Leveraged Law Firms in America, which appeared as a chapter in the American Bar Association’s publication, Raise the Bar – Real World Solutions for a Troubled Profession (2007).

His courses in law firm management and economics at the Emory University School of Law in the early 1990s may have been the first, and were certainly among the first, to be taught at a major American law school.

Wayne Hillis, Jr./Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs LLP

G. Wayne Hillis, Jr. has been in the practice of law in Atlanta, Georgia for 26 years and is a litigation partner with Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs LLP, where he serves as the managing partner for the firm. Mr. Hillis represents a variety of securities broker/dealers and individual brokers in litigation, handles complex business and commercial dispute litigation, employment litigation and arbitration.

Mr. Hillis has long been an active member of the Atlanta and Georgia Bar Associations. He is a fellow in the Lawyers Foundation of Georgia, a fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America and is Co-Chair of the Minority & Diversity Clerkship Program with the Atlanta Bar Association. Mr. Hillis also serves on the firm’s executive committee, partnership committee and diversity committee.

He received his B.A. degree from the University of Georgia in 1983 and his J.D. degree in 1986 (cum laude) from the University of Georgia School of Law where he was a member of the Editorial Board and Managing Board of the Georgia Law Review.