Michael Cottone
Michael Cottone is an associate in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice Group. He focuses on representing clients in a range of tax disputes, including franchise, excise, sales and use, business, and property taxes. Beyond litigation, Michael assists clients by negotiating with taxing authorities, providing representation in formal administrative proceedings, challenging assessments through the informal conference process, filing claims for tax refunds, and requesting letter rulings. He has obtained several positive letter rulings from the Tennessee Department of Revenue, prepared and filed successful refund claims, litigated a variety of tax issues with positive results, successfully pursued administrative tax appeals, and secured tax savings and credits for his clients. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law, where he teaches State and Local Taxation.
In addition, Michael assists clients with unclaimed property and escheatment issues and counsels electric membership corporations and other cooperative entities in connection with federal and state tax and broadband internet compliance issues. He also represents clients in a variety of complex disputes in federal and state courts, including class actions, multi-district litigation, and challenges to regulations and other agency actions.
Memberships
American Bar Association
Tennessee Bar Association
Institute for Professionals in Taxation
American Health Law Association (AHLA)
Representative Experience
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Represented C-III Capital Partners in its sale of California-based tech company Real Capital Markets (RCM) to LightBox
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Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a group of 21 Tennessee physicians in federal litigation in Nashville challenging a regulation from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
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We represented R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (NYSE: RRD) and its affiliate, Check Printers, Inc., in challenges to assessments of Tennessee sales tax and business tax
Publications
Past Events
Media Mentions & Firm News
Additional News & Insights
Publications
- Rethinking Presumed Knowledge of the Law in the Regulatory Age, 82 TENN. L. REV. 137 (2014)
- Discussed in George F. Will, When Everything Is a Crime, WASH. POST (Apr. 8, 2015), http://wpo.st/DT6Z0
- Cited by 1 WAYNE R. LAFAVE, SUBSTANTIVE CRIMINAL LAW § 5.6 (2d ed. 2015)
- Cited by Hon. Alex Kozinski, Criminal Law 2.0, 44 GEO. L.J. ANN. REV. CRIM. PROC. iii, xliv n.243 (2015)
- When Should eDiscovery Vendors Be Disqualified?, 15 TRANSACTIONS: TENN. J. BUS. L. 441 (2014)
- The Textualist Third Amendment, 82 TENN. L. REV. 537 (2015)
Accolades
Best Lawyers: Ones To Watch — Tax Law (2021)
Tennessee Law Review — Editor-in-Chief
University of Tennessee College of Law — Outstanding Graduate, Top Collegiate Scholar
The Micki C. Fox Tennessee Law Review Award for Extraordinary Service
The Herbert L. Davis Memorial Trust Fund Award
The Knoxville Auxiliary to the Tennessee Bar Association Award
The Harshfield Award for Excellence in Civil Procedure
Academic Achievement Awards: Civil Procedure I and II, Criminal Law, Contracts II, Legal Process II, Property, Torts II, Administrative Law, American Jurisprudence, Business Associations, Class Actions & Complex Litigation, Constitutional Law, Contract Drafting, eDiscovery, Evidence, Fundamental Concepts of Income Taxation, Intellectual Property, Interviewing & Counseling, Pretrial Litigation
Phi Kappa Phi