William C. Brown, Attorney at Law

William C. Brown is a member of BrownWinick. During his tenure at BrownWinick, Bill has served as Managing Member and Vice Chair of the firm's Management Committee and in numerous other leadership roles within the firm.

Bill has practiced law in the areas of taxation, securities, business planning, estate planning and banking for over 30 years. He represents business clients in all aspects of their business operations, including mergers and acquisitions, capital formation, equity and debt financing, business planning, employee fringe benefits, board of directors operations and duties, shareholder matters, estate planning and contract negotiations.

With special expertise in the taxation of S corporations, Bill has served on the S Corporation Committee of the American Bar Association and the Section of Taxation Council of the Iowa State Bar Association. He has published a law review article on S corporation taxation, "Evaluating a Subchapter S Conversion," 37 Drake Law Review 395 (1988) (click here to read article), and has spoken extensively at continuing legal education seminars on S corporation taxation and on business planning issues. Bill also published an article on "Dividend Equivalency in Stock Sales to Related Corporations," 132 Tax Notes, Number 4 (July 25, 2011) at page 415 (click here to read article) and published an article on "Judicial Expansion of the Future Interest Exception to the Gift Tax Annual Exclusion - Examination of the Legislative History and Policy Basis for the Future Interest Exception," 65 Tax Law 477 (2012) (click here to read article).

Bill has served for many years on the Board of Directors of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, Iowa's largest business trade association, and has served as the Chair on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of that organization for many years. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Lisle Corporation, an Iowa company that is one of the largest manufacturers of specialty automotive tools in the United States, and its sister company, EZ Way, Inc., a leading manufacturer of patient lifts and other patient handling devices for the hospital and nursing home industries. Bill is a fellow in the American College of Tax Counsel.

Bill is a frequent speaker on issues of concern to businesses and their owners, addressing issues of taxation, estate planning, securities regulation, business financing and banking. He has spoken at the University of Iowa Spring Tax Institute and the Iowa State Bar Association December Tax School, as well as at continuing legal education programs sponsored by Drake University, the Iowa State Bar Association, the University of Iowa and others.

Since 1999, Bill has been listed in Best Lawyers in America� in the area of tax law, since 2004 he has been selected for inclusion in Chambers USA� as a leader in Iowa in the area of corporate/M&A, and in 2008 he was included in SuperLawyers� in the areas of mergers and acquisitions and tax.

Leveraging his experience in lobbying and governmental affairs, Bill has represented the Iowa Small Business Coalition; a group of Iowa based S corporations, in lobbying for favorable Iowa tax legislation. That work has resulted in the enactment of several pieces of legislation benefiting his S corporation clients.

Bill is also active in community affairs. He has served in leadership positions of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, the Iowa Taxpayers Association, United Way of Central Iowa, the Greater Des Moines Chamber of Commerce Federation, the Polk-Des Moines Taxpayers Association and St. Augustin's Church.

Bill received his B.A., with honors, in psychology and his J.D., with highest distinction, from the University of Iowa. He was admitted to the bar in 1977. Bill received his LLM in Taxation, summa cum laude, from the University of Alabama in 2012.