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Wayne R. Kramer

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  • Of Counsel
Martindale-Hubbell | AV Preeminent | Peer Rated For Highest Level Of Professional Excellence | 2019

Wayne R. Kramer has over 38 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 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 has been developed through years of hard work.

Resolving similar complex issues among families in Estate Administration matters has been a significant part of Mr. Kramer's practice as well.

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

Areas Of Practice

  • Tax
  • Real Estate
  • Estate Planning
  • Administration and Trusts
  • Corporate and Transactional

Bar Admissions

  • Tennessee, 1978

Education

  • Seattle University of Law, Tacoma, Washington
    • J.D. - 1978
  • Maryville College
    • B.A. - 1974
    • Honors: cum laude
    • Honors: Chairman, Board of Directors, Maryville College, 2011 - 2016
  • Southern Methodist University
    • 1975
  • Perkins School of Theology
    • Graduate Studies in Religion

Representative Cases

  • Republic Plastics, LP (AAC, Knox County, Tax Years 2004-2006)
  • Clean Harbors, Inc. (AJ Hamilton County, Tax Years 2004-2006)
  • Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Inc., v. Johnson, 78 S.W.3d 918 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2002)
  • Alcoa, Inc. (AJ Blount County, Tax Year 1991)
  • Union Carbide Corp. v. Alexander, 679 S.W.2d 938 (Tenn. 1984)
  • Citizens Real Estate v. Mountain States Development Corporation, 633 S.W.2d 763 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1981)

Classes / Seminars

  • Speaker, National Business Institute
  • Speaker, Lorman Education Services
  • Speaker, Knox County Estate Planning Council
  • Speaker, 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

Honors And Awards

  • Selected for Inclusion in Best Lawyers in America
  • Selected for Inclusion in Mid-South Super Lawyers
  • Selected for Inclusion in The Best 150 Lawyers in Tennessee
  • Best Lawyers 2013 Lawyer of the Year in Trusts & Estates
  • Received the Top Attorney Award in Corporate Law, Estate Planning/Trusts and Taxation from City View, 2012
  • AV Rated by Martindale Hubbell

Professional Associations And Memberships

  • Knoxville Bar Association, Member, Board of Directors
  • Tennessee Bar Association, Tax Section
  • Tennessee Bar Association, Corporate Section
  • American Bar Association
  • Knoxville Bar Association, Tax Section, Former Secretary/Treasurer
  • Hamilton Burnett American Inns of Court, Member
  • Knoxville Bar Association, President, 2016

Past Employment Positions

  • Kramer Rayson LLP, Managing Partner, 1996 to 2000

Civic / Community Involvement

  • First Presbyterian Church, Knoxville
  • Member, Board of directors, The Melrose Foundation
  • Member, Board of Directors, The Rogers Foundation
  • Prior Member of the Board of Trustees, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
  • Fellow, Tennessee Bar Foundation
  • Fellow, Knoxville Bar Foundation
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