BIOS OF SEMINAR PRESENTERS

Terence F. Cuff is a partner in the Los Angeles office of the law firm of Loeb & Loeb, LLP. He is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz (A.B.), the University of Southern California (J.D.), and New York University (LL.M. (Taxation)). He is a member of the California bar. Mr. Cuff's practice is concentrated in the areas of partnership taxation and real estate taxation. He has published hundreds of articles in professional tax periodicals. He lectures nationally and is a frequent speaker at programs sponsored by New York University, the Practicing Law Institute, ALI/ABA, the American Bar Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and a wide variety of other professional organizations and providers of legal education in the field of federal income taxation. In addition to his work in the tax area, Mr. Cuff devotes his spare time to exploring the military history of the American Revolution, to general military history, and to chasing a yellow tennis ball across the tennis court. Mr. Cuff formerly served as an engineering officer and an air defense missile officer in the United States Marine Corps.
Charles H. Egerton is a founding partner in the law firm of Dean, Mead, Egerton, Bloodworth, Capouano & Bozarth, P.A. He received his undergraduate degree from Emory University, his law degree from The University of Florida and an LLM in Taxation from New York University. Mr. Egerton has been active in the Tax Sections of both the American Bar Association and Florida Bar Association. He currently serves as the Liaison from the American Bar Association Tax Section to the American Institute of CPA's Tax Executive Committee and he is also a member of the Council (which is the governing board) of the ABA Tax Section. He is also a former Vice Chair (Committee Operations) of the ABA Tax Section and a former Chair of the Committee on Partnership Taxation. Mr. Egerton is a Fellow and former Regent for the Eleventh Circuit of the American College of Tax Counsel, and is a Fellow in the American Bar Foundation. He is also a former Chair of both The Florida Bar Tax Section and The Florida Bar Tax Certification Committee. Mr. Egerton was the 1998 recipient of The Florida Bar Tax Section's Gerald T. Hart Award recognizing him as the outstanding tax attorney in the State of Florida. He was the primary author of the original Standards for Certification of Tax Attorneys, which is a part of The Florida Bar Certification Plan. He is also a Trustee and former Chair of the Southern Federal Tax Institute. Mr. Egerton is a frequent lecturer on tax topics. In addition, he is the author of various articles on tax topics in publications such as NYU Institute on Federal Taxation, University of Miami Institute on Estate Planning, Journal of Taxation, Journal of Passthrough Entities, Business Entities, The Tax Lawyer, Journal of Partnership Taxation, Florida Bar Journal, and University of Florida Law Review.
Adam M. Handler is a principal with PricewaterhouseCoopers' National Tax Services and is located in the Los Angeles office. He is the leader of the firm's like-kind exchange consulting practice and the firm's national expert on federal income tax issues affecting real estate transactions. He was previously the leader of the firm's Real Estate Tax Services practice for Southern California. Adam specializes in structuring complex business transactions, including like-kind exchanges, partnerships and joint ventures, REITs, and mergers and acquisitions. While he specializes in like-kind exchanges and in structuring transactions involving real estate and real estate companies, over his career he has structured a wide variety of transactions in different industries. His recent experiences with like-kind exchanges have included power plants, pipelines, cellular networks, auto leasing and other personal property exchange programs, exchanges of regional shopping malls and trophy office buildings, reverse exchanges of aircraft, build-to-suit exchanges and exchanges of various intangible assets, including patents, FCC licenses, artwork and other collectibles. Adam received a B.S. with distinction in chemistry from Yale University in 1981 where he was graduated Summa cum Laude and a J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1984. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Jeffrey T. Lawyer is a Member of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC, resident in the Winston-Salem, North Carolina office, and concentrating his practice in the areas of tax and general business. Jeff practiced for six years as a Certified Public Accountant with a Big Four accounting firm before attending law school. Jeff has been practicing law for more than 21 years, during which time he has focused exclusively on tax issues. Jeff has handled significant tax matters for national clients, as well as North Carolina-based private companies and individuals. He represents clients in all aspects of federal and state tax planning for business transactions and operations, including tax planning and strategies for real estate transactions, joint venture formations, partnerships, limited liability companies, and S corporations; tax planning for mergers, acquisitions, and dispositions of business enterprises; tax planning for choice of entity and raising capital; and tax planning for health care and other exempt organizations, including planning business transactions and joint ventures appropriate for tax-exempt organizations. Jeff received a B.A. degree in Accounting from Florida State University in 1977 and a J.D. degree with highest honors from Duke University School of Law in 1986. He is the immediate past Chair of the Tax Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. Jeff is listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Tax Law.
Richard M. Lipton is a partner in the Tax Department of Baker & McKenzie LLP, in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Lipton has handled numerous engagements for clients in structuring real estate transactions, including tenant-in-common and like-kind exchanges, and providing legal advice relating to tax planning for corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies. Mr. Lipton also has considerable experience in the areas of real estate investment trusts (REITs), real estate funds and investment in real estate by tax-exempt organizations and foreign investors. He has represented large corporations in complex partnership transactions, and has served as an expert witness on matters concerning partnerships and partnership taxation. He also has expertise in a number of other areas relating to tax law, including tax-exempt organizations and the rules involving UBIT, the tax consequences of bankruptcies and workouts and various tax accounting issues. He also provides tax advice to several professional sports franchises. Mr. Lipton is the former chair of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association as well as the former chair of the Chicago Bar Association Federal Tax Committee. He is a fellow and an officer of the American College of Tax Counsel. He is also a member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association. Mr. Lipton is a 1977 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School. He received a B.A. from Amherst College. He served as a clerk for Judge Cynthia Hall of the United States Tax Court.
Stephen M. Renna is Senior Vice President and Counsel of The Real Estate Roundtable, a Washington, DC based national public policy organization representing all sectors of the commercial and multifamily real estate industry. He specializes in tax, judicial and campaign finance issues. Mr. Renna has over 20 years experience working on both the transaction and policy sides of sophisticated commercial real estate tax transactions. He has been at the forefront of many successful industry campaigns to develop and enact important commercial real estate tax policies. Members of The Real Estate Roundtable are the chief executive officers of America's leading real estate companies and financial institutions. Before joining The Real Estate Roundtable in 1997, Mr. Renna was Vice President and Counsel for a government relations firm in Washington, DC. Between 1987 and 1991, Mr. Renna was a tax attorney with the law firm of Reid and Reige, P.C. From 1985 to 1987, he served as Tax Legislative Analyst for the National Association of Realtors. In 1984, he specialized in tax, banking and budget issues for U.S. Representative Don Young (R-AK). Mr. Renna received his law degree in 1983 from Catholic University's Columbus School of Law in Washington, DC and in 1980 graduated from Fairfield University with a B.A. cum laude in political science. He is admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia and Connecticut. He is a member of the American Bar Association's Tax Section and is a frequent speaker at the Association's meetings.
Robert D. Schachat leads the National Tax's Real Estate Group in Washington, D.C. His experience in the real estate area includes REIT, partnership, limited liability company and S corporation formations and real estate acquisitions, operations and dispositions, and like-kind exchanges. He offers advice in these areas regarding the structure of real estate transactions and the taxation of real estate operations. His experience also includes extensive involvement in the negotiation and drafting of all types of partnership agreements, LLC operating agreements, and corporate shareholder agreements. He also assists clients on a regular basis in monitoring federal legislative and regulatory activity in the real estate area. He joined Ernst & Young LLP in 1996. From 1984 until 1996, he was a partner in a Manhattan law firm focusing on real estate. Mr. Schachat has worked in the real estate area since 1980 and has published numerous articles on the subject. He chairs the Partnership Allocations and Like-Kind Exchange Subcommittees and is a member of the Committee on Government Relations of the Section of Taxation of the American Bar Association. He is a past co-chair of the Cost Recovery Committee and member of the Executive Committee of the Tax Section of the New York State Bar Association. He is also a member of the Board of Contributing Editors and Advisers of The Journal of Real Estate Taxation and the Tax Management Advisory Board for Corporate Tax and Business Planning. Mr. Schachat is a co-author of the CCH treatise, Taxation of REITs and UPREITs. He has a S.B., Phi Beta Kappa, in Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a J.D. from Columbia University Law School, and an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law.
David Shechtman is a partner and chairman of the Business Tax Group at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has developed a national practice structuring and documenting like-kind exchanges of real estate and other assets for real estate investors, exchange intermediaries, and major corporations. He currently serves as Chair of the Committee on Sales, Exchanges and Basis of the American Bar Association's Tax Section, and is a regular speaker at ABA Tax Section meetings and other tax conferences. He received a B.A. degree, with high honors, in Economics from Swarthmore College in 1974, and a J.D. degree from Cornell University Law School in 1977.
Derrick Tharpe is a Vice President with Wachovia Exchange Services in Winston-Salem, NC where he is a Senior Exchange Specialist. His responsibilities include consulting with attorneys, accountants, bankers, and clients regarding IRC §1031 like-kind exchanges. Prior to joining Wachovia Exchange Services in 1998, Mr. Tharpe was a practicing attorney at law primarily focused on real estate related matters. He is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, Section on Taxation, as well as the American Bar Association's Section on Taxation. He is also a member of the ABA Tax Section's Sales, Basis & Exchange Committee, as well as the Subcommittee on §1031 Like Kind Exchanges. Mr. Tharpe is a frequent speaker on the topic of §1031 exchanges, and has served as a speaker and faculty member for programs on behalf of the ABA Tax Section, North Carolina Bar Association, Tax Executives Institute, National Business Institute, Georgia Federal Tax Conference, South Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants, and the Florida Institute Certified Public Accountants. He has also published numerous articles on the subject of like-kind exchanges, including articles for various commercial publications as well as legal publications on behalf of the South Carolina Bar, the Florida Bar, and also for the Campbell Law School Observer. Mr. Tharpe received his undergraduate degree in 1989 from Catawba College, in Salisbury, NC where he earned dean's list honors with a B.A. in Political Science and Business Administration. He was also a member of the Student Honor Court and played varsity basketball for four years under head coach Sam Moir. Mr. Tharpe received his law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1992, and is licensed to practice law in both North Carolina and South Carolina.
Mark Vitner joined Wachovia in 1993 and is responsible for tracking U.S. and regional economic trends. He writes Wachovia's economic newsletter, Regional Economic Review, and also contributes to their Weekly Economic & Financial Commentary. Prior to joining Wachovia, Mark was economist for Barnett Banks in Jacksonville, Florida for approximately nine years. Mark's work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, USA Today and many other publications. He is also a frequent guest on CNBC, CNN, National Public Radio and the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. He is a native of Atlanta and holds a BBA in Economics from the University of Georgia, a MBA from the University of North Florida and has completed further graduate work in economics at the University of Florida. Mark also completed the NABE Advanced Training in Economics Program at Carnegie-Mellon University. He is a member of the American Economic Association, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, National Association of Business Economics and Charlotte Economics Club, which he co-founded. Mark also serves as the chief economist for the North Carolina CCIM and is a member of the USA Today forecasting panel. In addition, Mark is a Distinguished Lecturer/Practitioner at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia and served four terms as a member of the Governor's Advisory Board of Economists for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Louis S. Weller is a principal in Deloitte Tax, LLP and serves as National Director, Real Estate Transaction Planning. Lou is based in San Francisco. He also leads Deloitte Tax's Like-Kind Exchange Practice group. Before taking his present position, Lou practiced tax and business law for more than 20 years. He has extensive experience designing and implementing strategies for real estate acquisitions, transfers, exchanges, leases, financing, work-outs, business start-ups, limited liability companies, partnership and joint venture formations, transactions involving REITs, capital raising through placement of partnership interests and stock, as well as counseling clients on achieving business and personal tax planning objectives. A frequent speaker and author in the fields of tax, business law and real estate, Lou has lectured at programs sponsored by Practicing Law Institute, ALI-ABA, AICPA, California Continuing Education of the Bar, the American Bar Association, the State Bars of California, Michigan, Oregon and Texas, the Bar Association of San Francisco, Golden Gate University, the California and Texas Societies of Certified Public Accountants, University of Southern California, New York University, Georgetown University Law Center, UCLA, Mid-America Tax Institute, Southern Federal Tax Institute, Yellowstone Tax Institute, National Real Estate Development Center, and numerous private industry groups. Mr. Weller is co-author of the treatise Real Property Exchanges, Third Edition, published by California Continuing Education of the Bar .Lou received a B.A. cum laude in Political Science from Yale University and concurrent J.D. and Masters in Public Policy degrees from University of California, Berkeley. While in law school he served as an editor of the California Law Review and a member of the Moot Court Board. He was admitted to the California Bar in 1975.
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