Jane Wells May > McDermott Will & Emery LLP > Chicago, United States > Lawyer Profile
McDermott Will & Emery LLP Offices
444 WEST LAKE STREET
CHICAGO, IL 60606-0029
ILLINOIS
United States
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Jane Wells May
Work Department
State & Local Tax
Position
Jane Wells May focuses her practice on state and local tax matters. She represents businesses in connection with tax controversies at the audit, administrative and judicial levels around the United States. Her clients include companies in manufacturing, retailing, pharmaceuticals, financial services, agribusiness, food and beverage, health care, energy, technology and insurance industries. Jane has served on the Firm’s Management and Compensation Committees, on the Executive Committee and as the global head of the Firm’s Tax Practice.
Jane has successfully litigated state and local tax matters raising a variety of statutory and constitutional issues. She has defended numerous internet sellers in several states against cases brought under state whistleblower statutes, including the Illinois False Claims Act, alleging fraudulent failures to collect and remit use tax. Jane also advises business clients on tax planning matters and represents athletes and entertainers in connection with employment contract issues.
Jane is a co-founder of Tax in the City: A Woman’s Tax Roundtable®, which consists of women tax professionals with an interest in discussing substantive tax issues in a collegial and confidential setting, and which meets regularly in Chicago and New York.
While in law school, Jane was senior articles editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review and a member of the Moot Court Board.
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
McDermott Will & Emery LLP’s transactional tax practice, with offices in Chicago, Boston, California, Washington DC, Dallas, and Miami, offers broad expertise to blue-chip clients, focusing on the tax aspects of corporate restructurings and M&A. Timothy Shuman in Washington DC, advising on domestic and cross-border acquisitions, dispositions, and restructurings, leads the global group alongside Jane Wells May in Chicago, who focuses on state and local tax issues. Miami-based Steven Hadjilogiou specializes in tax optimization, while Brian Jenn in Chicago represents companies on tax-driven restructurings, foreign tax credits, and global tax policies, among other issues. San Francisco’s Dominika Korytek offers expertise in federal tax planning, especially to clients in the tech sector. John Lutz in New York is strong in the financial sector, regularly representing banks in connection with a wide range of matters, including municipal derivatives and tax-exempt bond securitizations. Damon Lyon in Chicago is well known for handling tax issues in cross-border restructurings. Lowell Yoder, also in Chicago, continues to leverage his considerable experience in cross-border transactions. DC’s David Noren is excellent in matters concerning subpart F rules, bilateral income tax treaties, and transfer pricing issues. Manuel Rajunov in Dallas advises on M&A transactions, real estate investments, and structured finance transactions. Shawn O’Brien in Houston and Frank Jackson in New York joined the firm in October 2023 from Mayer Brown and Jones Day, respectively.
United States > Tax > US taxes: contentious
(Leading lawyers)McDermott Will & Emery LLP fields a large team active nationwide in the full range of contentious tax issues, including audits, appeals, and litigation. Digital tax matters are a key area of expertise for the team, which acts on behalf of numerous prominent companies with interests in this sector. The group is led by Catherine Battin, a Chicago-based SALT expert with a strong record in tax disputes at all levels. Senior partner Jane Wells May, who is a former team lead, is also active in the Chicago office. Other key names include Charles Moll in San Francisco, who is a SALT specialist with experience litigating before the US Supreme Court, Stephen Kranz, who works from Washington DC and is particularly active on behalf of tech companies, and the Boston-based Richard Call. The team saw significant growth over 2023 with the additions of Shawn O’Brien, who joined the Houston office from Mayer Brown, Edward Froelich, new to the DC team from Morrison Foerster, and New York-based lawyer Michael Scarduzio, formerly of Jones Day.
Lawyer Rankings
- Leading lawyers United States > Tax > US taxes: contentious
- US taxes: contentious United States > Tax
- US taxes: non-contentious United States > Tax
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- Healthcare > Health insurers
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Healthcare > Service providers
- Tax > US taxes: contentious
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
Firm Rankings
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: design
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Energy > Energy regulation: electric power
- Tax > Financial products
- Labor and employment > Immigration
- Tax > International tax
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: toxic tort
- Energy > Renewable/alternative power
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: non-contentious (including prosecution, portfolio management and licensing)
- Labor and employment > Workplace and employment counseling
- Insurance > Advice to insurers
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Labor and employment > ERISA litigation
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Insurance > Insurance: non-contentious
- Labor and employment > Labor and employment disputes (including collective actions)
- Labor and employment > Labor-management relations
- Intellectual property > Patents: prosecution (including re-examination and post-grant proceedings)
- Real estate > Real estate finance
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Antitrust > Cartel
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Energy > Energy transactions: electric power
- Energy > Energy transactions: oil and gas
- Government > Government contracts
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Finance > Structured finance: derivatives and structured products
- International trade > Trade remedies and trade policy
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Real estate > Real estate
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Finance > Fintech