ATTORNEY PROFILE

WENDELL R. BIRD 

PERSONAL 

Born Atlanta, Georgia.

EDUCATION

Yale Law School (J.D., 1978);
Vanderbilt University (B.A., summa cum laude, 1975).

BAR MEMBERSHIPS

State Bars: Georgia 1978-; Alabama 1980-; California 1981-; Florida 1982-.
Federal Bars: U.S. Supreme Court 1983-; U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits; various U.S. District Courts.
Bar Organizations: American Law Institute; American Bar Association, Section on Taxation, Section on Litigation, Committee on Charitable Contributions, Committee on Exempt Organizations; National Lawyers Association. Chair: American Bar Association Subcommittee on Charitable Contributions; Subcommittee on Religious Organizations (past); Subcommittee on State and Local Taxes (past).

HONORS

Member of American Law Institute.
Listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World and Who's Who in American Law.
Adjunct Professor, Constitutional Law--Church and State, Emory University School of Law, 1985-1990
Listed in America's Premier Lawyers.
Lecturer, Washington Non-Profit Tax Conference, 1982-2007 (over 25 years).

Law clerk to Judge J. Dickson Phillips, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Law clerk to Judge Robert S. Vance, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (now Eleventh Circuit).

Member of Board of Editors, Yale Law Journal, 1977-1978.
Egger Prize of Yale Law School.

PUBLICATIONS

"Freedom of Religion," 87 Yale Law Journal 515, 1978.
"Freedom from Establishment," 1979 Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy 125, 1979.
"Religious Organizations and Tax Law," Federal and State Taxation of Exempt Organizations Chapter 4, 1994 (Warren Gorham & Lamont Publishers).
"The Pension Protection Act, 2006," Charitable Giving & Solicitation 519, Apr. 2007
"Congress Offers No Relief but Much Red Tape for Charities and Foundations," 17 Taxation of Exempts 201, Mar. - Apr. 200
"The Charitable Techniques Most Charities Overlook," 16 Taxation of Exempts. 201, May - June 2005.

Guidance on 'Election Year Issues' for Exempt Organizations," Wendell R. Bird, 15 Taxation of Exempts 269, May - June 2004. Reprinted in "Charitable Giving Techniques," Charitable Giving 599 (par. 507), Aug. 2005.

"Charitable Giving Techniques and Other Estate Techniques." Wendell R. Bird, 5, Journal of Practical Estate Planning 17, Oct. - Nov. 2003.

"Charitable Gift Planning after 'Repeal' of the Federal Estate Tax," Wendell R. Bird,  14 Taxation of Exempts 114, Nov. - Dec. 2002.
"Donor Advised Funds and Community Foundations," 13 Journal of Taxation of Exempt Organizations 68, Sept. - Oct. 2001.

"Family Limited Partnerships and Marketable Securities," 27 Tax Management Estates, Gifts and Trusts Journal 131, May 2002.
"Political Activities and Exempt Organizations," 12 Journal of Taxation of Exempt Organizations 243, Mar. 2000.
"Qualified Personal Residence Trusts and Estate Planning," 25 Estate Planners' Alert 3, Nov. 2000. 
"The Employee/Independent Contractor Test," Journal of Asset Protection 39, March 1998.
"Charitable Gift Annuities," Charitable Giving 713, 1998.
"Estate Tax Savings for Retirement Plan and IRA Assets," 1 National Lawyers Association Review 5, 1997.*
"Foundation for New Era Philanthropy Scandal," 8 Journal of Taxation of Exempt Organizations 69, 1996.
"Exempt Organization Rules on Political Activities," 7 Journal of Taxation of Exempt Organizations 195, 1995-1996.
"Exempt Organizations Face Sales and Use Taxes," 6 Journal of Taxation of Exempt Organizations 16, 1994.*
"Advanced Estate Planning," 1994.
"Current Developments in the State and Local Taxation of Exempt Organizations," 4 Journal of Tax Exempt Organizations 20, 1992.*
"Sales Tax Relief Not Automatic for Tax-Exempt Entities," 2 Journal of Multistate Taxation 203, 1992.*
"Exempt Religious Organizations Have Strict Limits," 48 Taxation for Accountants 207, 1991.*
"Exempt Organizations and Taxable Subsidiaries," 4 Practical Tax Lawyer 53, 1990.
"Exempt Organizations and Publishing," 1 Tax-Exempt Organizations 3024, 1989.
"Unrelated Debt-Financed Income," 8 CCH's Federal Tax Service J: Chapter 6, 1988.*
"Exempt Organizations and Discrimination," Tax-Exempt Organizations 3295, 1986.
"Methods of Estate and Gift Tax Savings," 57 Taxes 247, 1979.

"Estate and Gift Tax Savings for Medium-Sized Estates," Wendell R. Bird, Federal Estate and Gift Tax Reports (CCH) 10,802 (1979).

*For marked articles, was primary author with a co-author.

PRACTICE AREAS

Business Litigation, Securities Litigation, Constitutional Litigation,  Non-Profit Organizations Law and Expert Witness Service, Estates and Trusts.

OTHER INFORMATION

Is an Atlanta attorney with a law firm of graduates of the top five law schools: He is a Yale Law school graduate, has published over 25 tax articles, published litigation-related articles in the Yale Law Journal and Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and has practiced law for nearly 30 years.

Concentrates in litigation and corporate law: Won one of the thirty largest judgments nationally in history ($129,000,000) to that time , and also a $55,000,000 judgment that was one of the largest forty nationally in 2001, and a $45,000,000 settlement in a different case. Is a member of the bar in 4 states: Georgia, California, Florida, and Alabama. Is a member of the bars of the US Supreme Court; U.S. Courts of Appeals for nearly all Circuits (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th);  and various U.S. District Courts. Argued a case before the U.S. Supreme Court and won decisions in the majority of the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Served as law clerk for two judges; on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and then on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (now the Eleventh Circuit).  Published legal articles in the Yale Law Journal, Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and elsewhere on the First Amendment. Published articles on corporate law in Journal of Asset Protection, Practical Tax Lawyer, Journal of Multistate Taxation, etc. Is a member of the American Law Institute (limited to 3000 members nationally), American Bar Association, etc. Was Adjunct Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law. Is litigation counsel or general counsel to numerous businesses.

	Concentrates in non profit organization and estate and trust law: Published the  "Religious Organizations" chapter in the leading exempt organizations tax treatise, a chapter in CCH's Federal Tax Service (25 vol. series), and a dozen articles on nonprofit organization law. Published a manual entitled Advanced Estate Planning, and 10 estate planning articles. Is co-chair of the ABA Subcommittee on Charitable Contributions, and the former chair of the ABA Subcommittees on Religious Organizations and on State and Local Taxation. Has lectured for over 25 years at the leading national tax conference for nonprofit organization law (the Washington Non-Profit Tax Conference), and at other tax conferences. Served on the Board of Advisors of the New York University School of Law's National Center on Philanthropy and the Law, serves on the Board of Advisors of Taxation of Exempts, and served as Assistant Editor of the ABA Exempt Organizations Quarterly Report. Frequently speaks at nonprofit organization conferences and estate/charitable planning programs. Is general counsel to numerous charities and private foundations.
	Earned his law degree from Yale Law School: Was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. Received the Egger Prize awarded by Yale Law School for the best student legal publication.
	Is listed in Who's Who In America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in American Law, etc.  Was the second youngest member ever admitted to American Law Institute, the youngest adjunct professor when appointed at Emory School of Law, the youngest member of his Yale Law School class, and the youngest member of his Vanderbilt University class.
	Did his undergraduate studies at Vanderbilt University:  Graduated summa cum laude (and in upper 1% of his class). Became the first person in Vanderbilt history to exempt the freshman year (by special examinations) and to enter as a sophomore. Had interdepartmental majors in history, political studies, and economics. Was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and studied in the Honors Program at Vanderbilt.
	In high school:  Was named one of the top 40 science students in the nation by the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. Was the first three time winner of the NASA-NSTA Science Competition. Won third place in the International Science Fair, and won first place overall in the Georgia State Science Fair. Received perfect scores of 800 on his 3 college Board Achievement Tests and his mathematics S.A.T. Was a National Merit Finalist. Was S.T.A.R. student for the Atlanta Public School System.
	Avocations:  Piano (classical, arrangements of standards) Architecture (designed and built a Palladian  and Jacobean house). Skiing (on all 7 continents). Genealogy (traced to over 100,000 ancestors). History. Photography. Travel. Theater and cinema.