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Eight Adams and Reese attorneys from the firm’s office in Columbia, S.C., have been selected among the 2017 Legal Elite by Columbia Business Monthly magazine, highlighted by the selection of William M. Umbach as the top attorney in Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions.

Also earning Legal Elite honors from the Columbia office are attorneys John F. Beach (Business Litigation), Robert P. Bethea, Jr., (Corporate M&A and Health Care), Columbia office partner-in-charge Matthew B. Hill (Banking and Finance, Commercial Real Estate), Ernest G. Lawhorne (Workers Compensation), Adams and Reese executive committee chair William P. McElveen, Jr. (Commercial Real Estate), Anthony M. Quattrone (Government Affairs) and Kirby D. Shealy, III (Business Litigation, Insurance).

Umbach, who has been practicing law since 2010, joined Adams and Reese in 2013 and represents corporations, manufacturers and retailers in acquisitions, corporate contracts, governance, supplier agreements and tax matters. His honor as a top attorney comes after gaining experience in a wide variety of matters that arise throughout the lifetime of a business, including entity formation, governance, restructuring, business planning, corporate divisions, mergers, acquisitions, recapitulations and diversities. He represents clients in disputes with the Internal Revenue Service and in structure transactions and settlements in a tax-advantageous manner. He also counsels clients in the retail and manufacturing industries.

An active member of the taxation sections for both the American Bar Association and South Carolina Bar, Umbach earned his bachelor’s degree from Duke University in 2004, graduated cum laude with a J.D. from the University of South Carolina in 2010 and received his LL.M. in taxation from New York University in 2011.

Attorneys named to Columbia Business Monthly’s Legal Elite are honored for their professional accomplishments. Honorees are drawn and evaluated from a pool of peer-nominated candidates and voted upon by peer attorneys in the region. The resulting list highlights well-respected attorneys across the Columbia and Midlands region.

Beach, Bethea, Hill, Lawhorne, McElveen, Quattrone, Shealy and Umbach will be featured in the August issue of Columbia Business Monthly.