Kramer Rayson -Attorneys At Law

Kramer Rayson is Committed to Providing
Outstanding Legal Services in a Variety of Practice Areas.

Wayne R. Kramer

Wayne R. Kramer
Partner
800 S. Gay Street, Suite 2500
Knoxville, TN 37929
T (865) 525-5134
F (865) 522-5723
wkramer@kramer-rayson.com

Education
  • Seattle University, J.D., 1978
  • Graduate Studies in Religion
    Perkins School of Theology,
    Southern Methodist University,1975
  • Maryville College, B.A., 1974
    Cum Laude
Admitted
  • State Bar of Tennessee
Memberships
  • Knoxville Bar Association
  • Tennessee Bar Association
    (Tax Section and Corporate Section)
  • American Bar Association
Honors and Achievements
  • Listed in The Best Lawyers of America (1995-2010)
  • Mid-South Super Lawyers
  • The Best 150 Lawyers in Tennessee
  • Served as Managing Partner of the Firm
  • Former Secretary/Treasurer for the Tax Section of the Knoxville Bar Association
  • City View - 2009 Top Attorney in Corporate Law, Estate Planning and Tax Law

Wayne R. Kramer has over 30 years of experience in his practice areas of Tax, Real Estate, Estate Planning, Administration and Trusts, and Corporate and Transactional.  He represents individuals as well as a wide variety of small businesses and large companies.  Mr. Kramer has a sound understanding of the law and is problem solver.  He searches for "common ground" between parties in conflict and finds the counseling aspect of law to be the most rewarding.  He has provided guidance to individuals, small businesses, and large companies through difficult times as well as in periods of growth and prosperity.  

Mr. Kramer assists his clients in a myriad of business and tax issues and provides them with much predictability and guidance as they navigate through the complexities of the ever-changing tax and other laws and as they work with state and local authorities who regulate and implement those laws.  Mr. Kramer has extensive experience in taxation and has represented clients with regard to many issues and before various administrative bodies, including the Tennessee Department of Revenue and Tennessee State Board of Equalization.  Those areas of law include primarily the following:

  • Ad valorem real and tangible personal property tax 
  • State and local sales and use tax
  • Real property and general corporate matters
  • Commercial and business transactions
  • Estate planning and administration

Representative Cases

The following are several significant cases, including state and local tax cases, handled by Mr. Kramer or in which he was actively involved:

Citizens Real Estate v. Mountain States Development Corporation, 633 S.W.2d 763 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1981) (Boundary line dispute involving multiple land owners within a development)

Union Carbide Corp. v. Alexander, 679 S.W.2d 938 (Tenn. 1984) (Real Property Ad Valorem Tax case involving the attempted Assessment of the Management Contractor at the Department of Energy Facilities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee)

Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Inc., v. Johnson, 78 S.W.3d 918 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2002) (Tennessee Sales and Use Tax case involving the attempted Assessment by the Tennessee Department of Revenue of Computer Software fabricated by the Management Contrcator's employees for the Contractor's own use)

Republic Plastics, LP (AAC, Knox County, Tax Years 2004-2006) (Ad Valorem Property Tax case involving the Assessment of certain tangible personal property utilized by a manufacturer and the application of nonstandard valuation principles relative thereto) 

Clean Harbors, Inc. (AJ Hamilton County, Tax Years 2994-2006) (Ad Valorem Property Tax case involving the Assessment of tangible personal property and the appropriate valuation principles to be applied to such property)

Alcoa, Inc. (AJ Blount County, Tax Year 1991) (Ad Valorem Property Tax case involving the Assessment of a large manufacturing facility and the appropriate valuation thereof

Recent Presentations

Mr. Kramer has spoken and been involved in program presentations with the National Business Institute, Lorman Education Services, Knox County Estate Planning Council, and accounting groups such as the Institute of Management Accountants relative to Tennessee Sales and Use Tax, Ad Valorem real and tangible personal Property Tax, and Federal Estate and Tennessee Inheritance Tax matters.

Representative Matters

Mr. Kramer recently successfully completed a transaction where the co-owner of a small, closely held business needed significant assistance in the sale of his business interest in that entity to the remaining owners.  The relationships among the parties were longstanding, and the nuances of completing the transaction, both from a legal and human relationship standpoint, were significant.

He also recently handled a complex business transaction where two co-owners of a business sold their interest to a major company.  Again, not only were there legal "hoops" through which the parties needed to move, but the transaction also involved emotion and the difficulties which often arise in the sale of a business which often rise in the sale of a business which has been developed through years of hard work.

He has also successfully represented clients in a number of tax cases, some of which are identified above.

Of Note