Tell us a little bit about yourself.  

I grew up in Paducah, Kentucky, then moved to Florida after undergrad to take a job with Ernst & Young’s arbitrage rebate group in Jacksonville.  When E&Y got out of the rebate business in 2006, the Jacksonville office joined Bryant Miller Olive to start an arbitrage compliance subsidiary, Integrity Public Finance Consulting. Going to law school seemed like the next logical step.  I doubt I’m the only person to apply to law school intending to become a 103 tax lawyer, but I’d imagine we’re a small group. My wife Adrian and I live in Neptune Beach with our four kids Jack (9), Owen (9), Sadie (6) and Maggie (1). 

What inspired you to join NABL and how has it helped your career?

My first real experience with NABL was sneaking into the Institute (then TSLI) in San Francisco in 2008. I was a few months away from starting law school and my mentor, Laurie Scott, convinced me to go in her place when her plans changed last minute. I loved it and knew then I was making the right career choice. 

Since that time, NABL has been an invaluable resource. As a 103 lawyer, NABL’s conferences and webinars have been a great opportunity to stay up to date on current issues and connect with colleagues all over the country to compare thoughts on developing tax trends. 

As Vice Chair of the Education Committee, what are some of the new webinars the committee is planning for the rest of this year?

Just this week we held a webinar on Arbitrage and Rebate, a topic of increasing relevance in the current interest rate environment. It will be available on-demand early next month for anyone who missed seeing it live. We’ll follow that with a webinar on various LIBOR transition issues in September and an ethics webinar in December. 

If you had to listen to one song for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?

As an obsessive music listener, I don’t think you could ask a more anxiety-inducing question. I’ll dodge the song question and pick an album, Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. But if you were to ask me tomorrow, I’d probably give you a different answer.

Which book and/or podcasts have you enjoyed and would recommend to others?

I’m currently reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, but admittedly that’s probably not for everyone. In terms of what I would more widely recommend to others, you can’t go wrong with any of the Dublin murder squad mysteries by Tana French. I also really enjoyed and would recommend The River by Peter Heller and its sort-of sequel, The Guide.