After 30 years of practicing law in downtown Atlanta, Bill relocated his practice in 2011 to Lawrenceville, 10 minutes from his home.



With extensive experience with general corporate law, state and local taxation, mergers and acquisitions, and state legislative law, Bill has handled significant state and local tax matters for numerous Georgia and multi-state corporations and government entities through the years and has served as state and local tax counsel for several national businesses.  He is continuing with his general business law practice and also continuing his focus on state and local tax.



Bill began his career with the Office of the Attorney General of Georgia.  Through his representation of the Georgia Department of Revenue, Bill developed a solid foundation in state income and sales and use tax issues.  Upon joining Smith, Cohen, Ringel, Kohler and Martin in 1983 (later Smith, Gambrell and Russell, LLP), he gained significant experience in the areas of property tax and hotel-motel tax under the tutelage of one of his partners, former State Revenue Commissioner John A. Blackmon.  Through the years, Bill has been involved in numerous cases and matters in all of these tax areas.



In addition to state and local tax issues, Bill has developed a general business law practice addressing a multitude of business issues through the years.  He has served as general counsel to several national businesses, as lender’s counsel on bond financing, and as borrower’s counsel on numerous bank loans.  He has drafted numerous pieces of legislation introduced in the Georgia General Assembly, many of which went on to become law.



A member of the State Bar of Georgia, Bill has achieved and maintained a Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating of AV Preeminent since 1990.  He has spoken on Georgia tax issues for a number of workshops and seminar panels, including for the National Business Institute and the Georgia Institute of Continuing Legal Education.  Bill co-authored an article on tax appeal procedures for the Georgia Bar Journal and has written numerous other articles that have been published in various trade journals.  He has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Georgia School of Law, teaching courses covering the fundamentals of corporate taxation. 

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A native of Covington, Georgia, Bill attended the University of Georgia, receiving his B.B.A. with a major in Economics in 1970, his M.B.A. with a concentration in Finance in 1975, and his J.D. in 1979, making him, as he proudly says, a “triple Dawg.”  He served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1970-1973, attaining the rank of Lieutenant (J.G.).  A man of many interests, Bill’s hobbies include astronomy, military history, and Lionel trains.  He has helped many Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops obtain Astronomy badges through the years, and his train collection and layout are a big hit with all ages.  He and his wife of 45-plus years, Susan, live in Gwinnett County, where they have been involved in a variety of community organizations through the years.  They are the proud parents of two daughters; Morgan is the elder, and the younger is a performer formerly on tour and on Broadway with the musical “Wicked” and now performing at Walt Disney World.