After over 30 years of practicing law in downtown Atlanta, 28 of which were with one of the city’s largest firms, Bill Wood has relocated his practice to Lawrenceville, ten minutes from his home.
With extensive experience in general corporate law, state and local taxation, mergers and acquisitions, and state legislative law, Mr. Wood has handled significant corporate and tax matters for a number of Georgia and multi-state corporations and government entities through the years and has served as state and local tax counsel for several national businesses. While serving in the Georgia Attorney General’s office from 1979 through 1982 representing the Georgia Department of Revenue, Mr. Wood developed a solid foundation in state income and sales and use tax issues. Upon joining Smith, Cohen, Ringel, Kohler and Martin in 1983 (later Smith, Gambrell and Russell, LLP), he gained significant experience in the areas of property tax and hotel-motel tax under the tutelage of one of his Smith, Gambrell partners, former State Revenue Commissioner John A. Blackmon. Through the years, Bill has been involved in numerous cases and matters in all of these tax areas. In addition to state and local tax issues, he has developed a general business law practice addressing a multitude of business issues. Mr. Wood has served as general counsel to several national businesses, as lender’s counsel on bond financing and as borrower’s counsel on numerous bank loans for clients. He has drafted numerous pieces of legislation introduced in the Georgia General Assembly; many became law through his lobbying efforts. A member of the State Bar of Georgia, he has achieved the preeminent peer review rating of AV through Martindale-Hubble.
Mr. Wood has spoken on Georgia tax issues for a number of workshops and seminar panels, including the National Business Institute and the Georgia Institute of Continuing Legal Education. He co-authored an article on tax appeal procedures for the Georgia State Bar Journal and has written other articles that have been published in various trade journals. He has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Georgia School of Law, teaching courses covering the fundamentals of corporate taxation.
Representative clients include Lou Sobh Automotive Group, Thrush Aircraft, Inc., Walton Press, Inc. and Peoples Home Health, LLC and affiliates. A native of Covington, Georgia, Bill attended the University of Georgia, receiving a B.B.A. degree with a major in Economics in 1970, his M.B.A. degree with a concentration in Finance in 1975 and a law degree in 1979, making him, as he proudly says, a “triple Dawg.” He served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1970-1973, attaining the rank of Lieutenant (J.G.). A man of many interests, his avocations include astronomy, military history and Lionel trains. He has helped many Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops earn Astronomy badges through the years, and his train collection and layout are a big hit with all ages. He and his wife of 40 years live in Gwinnett County, where they have been involved in a variety of community organizations through the years. They are the proud parents of two daughters; one recently graduated from law school at UGA and practices in Atlanta, the other is a performer currently with the national tour of “Wicked.”
