Tallahassee Office Continues Growth with State Taxation Attorney, Bill Townsend

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Dean, Mead & Dunbar, a business law firm with five offices across Florida, announced that William D. Townsend has joined its Tallahassee office as Of Counsel in the Government Relations, Lobbying and Administrative Law department. Townsend has more than 40 years of experience and is well-known throughout Florida and nationally for his industry knowledge and strategic approach to advising domestic and major global clients.

Townsend has represented clients in various states on issues in administrative and judicial actions relating to sales, corporate income, business and organization taxes and telecommunications taxes, as well as state taxation of intellectual property, electronic commerce taxation (E-commerce) and unclaimed property (escheat) issues.  Additionally, Townsend represents clients on legislative tax matters, including the taxation of computer services, corporate income tax issues and sales tax exemption matters. He has an extensive background in structuring business transactions to minimize state tax impacts.

“Bill is a leading authority on local, state and multi-jurisdiction tax matters. He has extensive experience representing clients in the industry sectors that are driving Florida’s economic engine such as entertainment and hospitality, telecommunications, urban development and technology,” said Peter Dunbar, Chair of the firm’s Government Relations, Lobbying, and Administrative Law department. “Bill will provide immediate and valuable counsel to our clients as a result of the long-standing relationships he has cultivated with state agencies including the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Florida Department of Revenue and Enterprise Florida.”

Townsend was named the “Outstanding Tax Attorney of the Year” in 2014 by The Florida Bar Tax Section. Additionally, he has earned a spot on the Best Lawyers in America list since 2006 and was named a leading tax lawyer in Florida by Chambers and Partners USA. He has been noted several times as a Recommended Lawyer in Domestic Tax in Florida by The Legal 500.

Throughout his career, Townsend has been repeatedly recognized for his work by his peers, including being selected as one of the state’s “Legal Elite” by Florida Trend magazine, earning an AV® Preeminent distinction and being consistently listed as a Florida Super Lawyer.

In addition, Townsend is one of the founders of the National Symposium on State and Local Tax, which is held annually in Orlando.

Townsend received his bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and his J.D. degree from University of Florida’s Levin College of Law.

“Dean Mead is a top ranked law firm for tax and corporate transactional matters, which is the ideal platform for my practice and the increasing state and local tax needs of clients,” said Townsend. “In my opinion, there’s no better place in Florida than Tallahassee to grow this section of the department.”

About Dean Mead: Dean Mead is a corporate law firm that provides full-service legal representation to businesses and individuals throughout Florida. The firm has 47 attorneys in multiple practice areas including: tax, estate and succession planning, business law, general commercial litigation, appellate law, professional licensing, government investigations, white collar litigation, government relations and lobbying, regulatory compliance, employee benefits, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, commercial real estate and health law. For more information, please visit deanmead.deme.dev.

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