WILLIAM (BILL) E. SIGLER, shareholder, centers his practice on business planning, structuring and formation of business entities, mergers and acquisitions, real property acquisitions and dispositions, contract drafting and review, employee benefit plans, executive compensation, and estate and business succession planning.
He graduated from Michigan State University in 1980. In 1983, he earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Detroit School of Law, where he was an editor of the Law Review. Bill is a frequent lecturer and has authored many articles, including:
- “How an F Reorganization Can Benefit the Sale of an S Corporation,” Michigan Bar Journal, Volume 102, No. 10, November 2023
- “Impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on the Real Estate Industry,” Laches, No. 607, April 2018
- “Pension Plans as Succession Plans for Small-Business Owners,” Laches, No. 601, September 2017
- “Splitting Up is Not So Hard to Do,” Laches, No. 597, April 2017
- “Avoiding Tax-Related Identity Theft,” Accounting Today, September 2016
- “NIIT Nits,” Laches, No. 587, April 2016
- “The Beneficiary as Trustee: Designing the Henhouse Around the Fox, “Laches, No. 567, April 2014
- “Equity Compensation in LLCs,” Laches, No. 557, April 2013
- “Selling the Keys to the Kingdom Without Bank Financing, “Michigan Tax Lawyer, Volume XXXV, Issue 3, fall 2009
- “Executive Compensation Trends for Emerging Growth Companies, “Laches, No. 523, November 2009
- “Fifty Years of Practice Reversed by New Rules on Post-Death Events, “Michigan Tax Lawyer, Volume XXXV, Issue 2, Summer 2009
- “Innovative Retirement Plan Designs for the Small-Business Employer, “Laches, No. 450, July 2003
- “Qualifying for the Annual GST Tax Exclusion, “Laches, No. 387, April 1998
- “New Revenue Ruling Encourages Gifts of Stock in the Family Business, but Beware!”Michigan Bar Journal, Volume 72, No. 10, October 1993
- “Supreme Court Declares Qualified Plan Benefits to be Exempt from Bankruptcy,” Michigan Bar Journal, Volume 71, No. 10, October 1992
Bill is a member of the Financial and Estate Planning Council of Metropolitan Detroit and is active in charitable and bar-related activities. He has served as chairperson of the Oakland County Bar Association Tax and Employee Benefits committees and is a former member of the Board of the Association for Corporate Growth. Bill has been recognized as a Michigan Leading Lawyer in the areas of closely & privately held business law, employee benefits law, tax law (business, individual, and trust), will & estate planning. He has also been recognized as a Noted Practitioner by Chambers USA.