William J. Kolarik, II

Willie Kolarik is a partner in Kean Miller's state and local tax group with almost 20 years of experience advising major companies on tax-related matters. Willie has provided tax advice to many of the world's largest businesses across multiple industry groups, including, energy, financial institutions, industrial products, retail, consumer goods, health care, entertainment and utilities. He has handled every major aspect of corporate, state, and local tax matters, with a primary focus on state and local income, sales and use, gross receipts, property, payroll and other transaction-based taxes.

Willie has significant controversy and tax planning experience related to the state and local taxation of commodities and derivative transactions for financial institutions, commodities traders, and energy companies and is familiar with the state and local tax consequences of both physical and financial transactions related to base metals, sugar, coffee, grains, natural gas, oil and electricity. He also has extensive experience assisting public utilities with state and local tax matters and with the tax and tax-related regulatory accounting issues associated with public utility ratemaking, e.g., normalization and consolidated tax savings adjustments. Willie has also participated in numerous energy industry transactions for both private equity firms and strategic investors involving both regulated and unregulated targets.

Willie is well-versed in the state and local tax systems among the various states. He has provided 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. Willie's tax controversy experience includes representing clients before a variety of state and local taxing agencies.

In addition to his work assisting clients in tax advice and multistate tax planning, Willie is an accomplished author, having published substantive articles in The Tax Lawyer and State Tax Notes and co-authored a state and local tax column for CCH Corporate Business Taxation Monthly. 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.

Before joining Kean Miller, Willie worked for a large regional law firm and Ernst & Young's National Tax Department 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. Prior to that, Willie worked for The Walt Disney Company, where he supervised the federal and state and local tax compliance 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 provision.

Willie is a Certified Public Account (inactive) in California and Louisiana.