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William E. Sigler

William E.
Sigler

Shareholder

"We're here to help our clients achieve their goals and protect what they've worked so hard to attain."

Practices

Real Estate, Corporate and Business, Employee Benefits, Estate Planning and Probate, Tax

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.

Education

University of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, Juris Doctor, 1983

Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, B.A., 1980

 

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association

State Bar of Michigan

Oakland County Bar Association

Financial and Estate Planning Council of Metro Detroit

Society of Financial Service Professionals

Association for Corporate Growth

 

Recognition

Accounting & Finance Professional Association (AFPA) Professional Development Conference (November 25-27, 2024)

Accounting & Finance Professional Association (AFPA) Professional Development Conference (November 20-22, 2023)

Accounting & Finance Professional Association (AFPA) Professional Development Conference (November 21-23, 2022)

Accounting & Finance Professional Association (AFPA) Professional Development Conference (June 13-15, 2022)

Accounting & Finance Professional Association (AFPA) Professional Continuing Education Conference
(May 26-27, 2021)

Tax Professionals & the IRS: Successfully Working Together Conference (June 21, 2017)

Tax Professionals & the IRS: Successfully Working Together Conference (June 22, 2016)

The Ralph Grant Institute 16th Annual Professional Development Conference (November 25-27, 2019)

The Ralph Grant Institute 15th Annual Professional Development Conference (November 19-21, 2018)

The Ralph Grant Institute 14th Annual Professional Development Conference (November 20-22, 2017)

The Ralph Grant Institute 13th Annual Professional Development Conference (November 21-23, 2016)

The Ralph Grant Institute 12th Annual Professional Development Conference (November 23-24, 2015)

The Ralph Grant Institute 11th Annual Professional Development Conference (November 24-26, 2014)

The Ralph Grant Institute 9th Annual Professional Development Conference (November 19-21, 2012)

Roundup of Recent Tax Developments,” Thirty-First Annual Tax Symposium (November 5, 2022)

Roundup of Recent Tax Developments,” Thirtieth Annual Tax Symposium (November 13, 2021)

Taxes, Pandemics, Elections …. Oh My!” Twenty-Ninth Annual Tax Symposium (October 31, 2020)

Roundup of Recent Tax Developments,” Twenty-Eighth Annual Tax Symposium (November 2, 2019)

Roundup of Recent Tax Developments,” Twenty-Seventh Annual Tax Symposium (October 27, 2018)

Roundup of Recent Tax Developments,” Twenty-Sixth Annual Tax Symposium (November 11, 2017)

Roundup of Recent Tax Developments,” Twenty-Fifth Annual Tax Symposium (November 12, 2016)

Roundup of Recent Tax Developments,” Twenty-Fourth Annual Tax Symposium (November 24, 2015)

Roundup of Recent Tax Developments,” Twenty-Third Annual Tax Symposium (November 16, 2014)

Round-Up of Recent Tax Developments,” Twenty-Second Annual Tax Symposium (October 26, 2013)

Representing Emerging and Growing Businesses,” Maddin Hauser’s Fourteenth Annual Tax Symposium (2005)

Business Succession Planning Strategies,” Maddin Hauser’s Thirteenth Annual Tax Symposium (2004)

Inherited Wealth: Protecting Children from Themselves and Others,” Maddin Hauser’s Twelfth Annual Tax Symposium (2003)