Don Stuart is a partner at Waller Lansden and practices in the areas of federal and state taxation and corporate and business transactions, with a focus on the healthcare industry. Mr. Stuart is a member of the firm’s Healthcare Department and represents both public and private companies and also nonprofit organizations in the healthcare arena, including acute care hospitals and health systems, behavioral healthcare companies, ambulatory surgery centers, healthcare technology companies, pharmaceutical firms, hospice and home healthcare operations and others.
Mr. Stuart has extensive experience assisting such companies and organizations in the tax planning and structuring of:
business formations
mergers and acquisitions
tax-free reorganizations
joint ventures
securities offerings
dispositions, spin-offs, liquidations and other restructurings.
His practice also includes advising clients on limited liability companies, partnerships, private equity and venture capital financing, FIN 48 reporting, real estate investment trusts and "S" corporations. Mr. Stuart also represents clients before the IRS and state tax authorities in tax audits, appeals and obtaining letter rulings.
Mr. Stuart counsels nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations on a variety of matters, including formations, joint ventures, sales/dispositions, executive compensation, tax-exempt bonds, intermediate sanctions, unrelated business taxable income, governance and Form 990 reporting matters. He closely follows developments involving nonprofit hospitals and healthcare systems with respect to the examination, both at the state and federal levels, of their tax-exempt status, community benefit and charity care obligations, and the IRS’s new hospital exemption requirements. Mr. Stuart serves as an elected member of the IRS Great Lakes Area Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) Council. He has written extensively and spoken in various forums on these issues. Mr. Stuart has also written articles on healthcare joint ventures between for-profit parties and tax-exempt organizations, tax-exempt hospital bonds and intermediate sanctions regulations.
As Vice Chair of the Tax & Finance Practice Group of the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA), Mr. Stuart has been actively involved with the AHLA, including moderating panel discussions for several AHLA programs, speaking on various healthcare tax related topics and writing on recent developments. Mr. Stuart is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the AHLA’s Federal Healthcare Laws & Regulations publication.
Mr. Stuart has written on Tennessee taxation of venture capital funds, tax allocation agreements for financial institutions, RHIOs and health information exchanges, and tax-free reorganization transactions. Mr. Stuart has spoken to various professional groups on tax-related topics and has served on the faculty for the National Business Institute's annual seminar "Mergers and Acquisitions in Tennessee: The Art of Doing Deals" and the Tennessee Bar Association's "Annual Health Law Forum."
Education
J.D., cum laude, Thomas M. Cooley Law School, 1995
Recipient, American Jurisprudence Award in Research & Writing, 1992
Recipient, Certificate of Merit Award in Scholarly Writing I, 1993
Listed in Who's Who: American Law Students
Assistant Editor, Thomas M. Cooley Law Review, 1994
LL.M., Taxation, University of Florida, 1997
Graduate Editor, Florida Tax Review, 1997
B.S., Bradley University, 1987
Professional Activities
Member, Nashville, Tennessee and Michigan Bar Associations
Member, American Bar Association, including Sections of Taxation and Health Law, Corporate Tax Committee, Exempt Organizations Committee, Tax and Accounting Interest Group
Elected Member, IRS Great Lakes Area Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) Council
Vice Chair, AHLA, Tax and Finance Practice Group
Member, Editorial Advisory Board, AHLA Federal Healthcare Laws & Regulations
Contributing Author, Tennessee Limited Liability Company Forms and Practice Manual
Named in Who's Who in American Law
Civic and Other Activities
Member, Board of Directors of High Hopes Inclusive Preschool and Pediatric Therapy Clinic
Member, Greater Cool Springs Chamber of Commerce, Economic and Community Development Committee
Member, Franklin Tomorrow, Business Strategy Group committee member
