William J. Kolarik II

"I possess significant controversy and tax planning experience across industry groups and regularly represents clients in complex income and franchise tax audits and litigation."

Willie Kolarik is an attorney and certified public accountant who serves as tax counsel to many of the world's largest businesses. His experience spans multiple industry sectors, including, the energy, financial institutions, manufacturing, industrial products, retail, consumer goods, healthcare, gaming, entertainment, and utilities industries. He brings in-house Fortune 100 and major consulting firm experience, as well as over two decades of proven skill in advising on all aspects of state and local tax matters - including income, franchise, sales and use, gross receipts, property, payroll, and other transaction-based taxes.

Willie represents and advises U.S. and international corporations, partnerships, private equity funds, limited liability companies, individuals, and tax-exempt entities on the full range of state and local tax matters. Willie has significant controversy and tax planning experience across industry groups and regularly represents clients in complex income and franchise tax audits and litigation involving transfer pricing, expense attribution, and computation of the tax base of multi-tiered corporate groups. He is also skilled in advising on the state and local taxation of commodities and derivative transactions for financial institutions, commodities traders, and energy companies, and is well-versed in the state and local tax consequences of both physical and financial transactions related to base metals, sugar, coffee, grains, natural gas, oil, and electricity.

Willie also has extensive experience related to the state and local sales and use taxes and Louisiana's decentralized local sales and use tax regime. His tax controversy experience includes representing clients before a variety of state and local taxing agencies, tribunals, and courts.

He is also experienced with the state and local taxation of commodities and derivative transactions and with the tax and tax-related regulatory accounting issues associated with public utility ratemaking, such as normalization and consolidated tax savings adjustments. Willie has substantial mergers and acquisitions experience and has participated in numerous energy industry transactions for both private equity firms and strategic investors involving both regulated and unregulated targets.

Fluent in myriad state and local tax systems across the country, Willie provides critical commentary, research, and analysis on case law, administrative, and legislative developments in the areas of state and local taxation in connection with tax policy discussions for both commercial and governmental clients.

In addition to assisting clients with tax advice and multistate tax planning, Willie is an accomplished author and has published substantive articles in The Tax Lawyer, Tax Notes, and several other publications. Willie's research has been cited in testimony before the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, a petition for a writ of certiorari and an amicus curiae brief to the United States Supreme Court, in an amicus curiae brief to the Illinois Supreme Court, and in several peer-reviewed law journals. Willie is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Louisiana State University's Paul M. Hebert Law Center, where he co-teaches the Taxation of Business Entities.

Before joining Kean Miller, Willie worked for a large regional law firm and Ernst & Young's National Tax Department's Indirect Tax Practice, where he worked with the Power and Utilities group, the Indirect Tax Controversy group, and the State and Local Tax Center for Tax Policy. Before joining Ernst & Young, Willie worked in-house at The Walt Disney Company, where he supervised federal, state, and local tax compliance matters for the Cable and Broadcasting group and assisted in state income tax planning projects, corporate restructurings, exposure analysis, legislative analysis, and the state income tax provisions. Willie brings his experience, critical thinking, and multi-dimensional understanding of what major businesses need, from an insider's perspective, to his private practice today.