High-net worth individual income and estate planning
Leigh Griffith is a partner at Waller Lansden and manages the Firm's Tax practice. He has extensive experience in state and federal taxes and estate planning. Mr. Griffith is one of the approximately 650 Fellows of the American College of Tax Counsel and presently one of only two in Tennessee. He was the principal draftsman of the Tennessee Limited Liability Company Act, and he created the first LLC and the first professional LLC organized under the Act. Mr. Griffith participated in the first life insurance annuity combination securitization creating both a new security and, according to Standard & Poor's and Moody's, a new asset class for their ratings. Mr. Griffith has been recognized for his vast tax law experience in The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward White, Inc.) since 1995. He also is recognized in Mid-South Super Lawyers.
Mr. Griffith has published extensively on a variety of subjects, including taxes and the Limited Liability Company in Tennessee. His articles have appeared in The Tax Lawyer, Journal of Multi-State Taxation and Incentives, Music Row, Tennessee CPA, Tennessee Bar Journal, The Nashville Medical News, Medical Economics, State and Local Taxes Weekly and The Tennessee Family Physician. Mr. Griffith authored the Tennessee Limited Liability Company section of State Limited Liability Company and Partnership Laws (Aspen Law and Business 1995; Michael A. Bamberger and Arthur J. Jacobson Editors.) He wrote the 1994 Article of the Year for the Journal of the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants and has twice received the award for Special Recognition for Contribution to the Tennessee CPA Journal.
Mr. Griffith’s extensive experience with the Tennessee Limited Liability Company Act and state and federal tax issues also has made him a highly sought-after seminar leader for continuing professional education programs. He has conducted seminars on the Limited Liability Company and various federal and state tax topics for the Tennessee Bar Association, the Tennessee Society of CPAs, The Tennessee Tax Institute, National Business Institute, Professional Education Systems, the American Bar Association Section of Taxation, the Nashville Bar Association, the Mid-South Commercial Law Institute, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, Lipscomb University’s annual Updating the Professional Accountant program and numerous other professional groups.
Education
J.D., Vanderbilt University, 1976
LL.M., New York University, 1977
B.A., magna cum laude, University of Virginia, 1973
Member, Phi Beta Kappa
Clerkships and Previous Affiliations
Ernst & Ernst, Nashville, TN, 1977-81
Professional Activities
Licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, New York and Tennessee
Certified Public Accountant in Tennessee and Mississippi
One of approximately 650 Fellows of the American College of Tax Counsel
Member, Nashville Bar Association, active in the tax practice area
Member, American Bar Association, Section of Taxation, currently serving on the Partnership Taxation Committee, Committee on State and Local Taxation and Task Force on Proposed Series LLCs Regulations
Member, D.C. Bar Association, International Tax Section
Former Member, American Bar Association Committee on Appointments to the Tax Court
Former Member, American Bar Association's Long Range Planning Task Force of the Section of Taxation
Past commitments to the American Bar Association, Section of Taxation have included serving as Law Student Division Liaison to the Section, a member on the Joint Committee on Educational and Tax Litigation Clinic, the Tax Structuring and Simplification Committee, the Formation of Tax Policy Committee, the Task Force on Pass-Through Entities, the Committee on Government Submissions, the Nominating Committee, Environmental Tax Committee, Low Income Taxpayer Committee Chairman and the Ad Hoc Committee on the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act and the Limited Liability Company Task Force
Member, New York State, District of Columbia and Tennessee Bar Associations
Former Reporter for the Tennessee Bar Association Task Force on Limited Liability Companies
Charter Life Member, The American Tax Policy Institute
Member, Council of the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants
Chairman, TSCPA Federal Tax Conference, 2001-2003, Member 2004-2011
Member, TSCPA Tennessee Tax Conference, 2002-2005
Member TSCPA Council, 2001-2011
Named in numerous professional journals, including: Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who in Practicing Attorneys, Who's Who in Emerging Leaders of America, Who's Who in America, the International Who's Who of Professionals, Strathmore's Who's Who, The Best Lawyers in America and Mid-South Super Lawyers
TSCPA 2002 Committee Chairman of the Year
Recipient of TSCPA Special Recognition Award
Author, Article of the Year for the Journal of the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants, 1994
