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Meet Our Professionals

James N. Greene III

Partner
Board of Directors of the Firm
Charlotte | 704.335.9896
Fax | 704.334.4706

Jimmy Greene has approximately 25 years of experience advising clients on their sophisticated tax needs and transactions, including joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. He also has substantial experience representing clients in federal and state tax controversies and audits, including a recent four-day trial before the U.S. Tax Court. Jimmy began his career in the early 1990s with one of the “Big Four” accounting firms and has maintained his license as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with the North Carolina State Board of Certified Public Accountant Examiners since 1995.

In addition, Jimmy serves as outside tax and business counsel to a number of publicly traded and large privately held companies. He also regularly counsels foreign corporate clients on their U.S. tax needs and in acquisition/disposition transactions.

Representative Experience

  • Represented Sonic Financial Corporation in its deal to acquire all outstanding shares of Speedway Motorsports Inc., a publicly traded company that is a national leader in motorsports entertainment, with an enterprise value of more than $1 billion.
  • Represented Childress Klein in the acquisition and financing of the new 40-story Charlotte Metro Tower in a sale-leaseback transaction with Duke Energy. The Charlotte Business Journal described the $675 million deal as the “largest single real estate transaction ever made in Charlotte.”
  • Represented a client before the U.S. Tax Court in a four-day trial in 2023.
  • Served as tax counsel to a number of public and private companies and has provided federal and state tax opinions on a variety of issues.
  • Served as U.S. tax counsel to publicly traded German manufacturing and service conglomerate and its U.S. subsidiary in multiple acquisition and disposition transactions. 
  • Served as tax counsel to one of the world’s leading cloud software companies in its approximately $160 million acquisition of a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company.
  • Represented national retailer in its approximately $150 million acquisition of a high-end retailer in the Northeast; advised on tax planning and structuring, due diligence, and purchase agreement negotiation.
  • Advised clients on Internal Revenue Code Section 165 ordinary losses, including abandonment losses and worthless stock losses.
  • Advised public company on an approximately $150 million abandonment loss under Section 165 that was audited and sustained by the IRS.
  • Served as counsel to multiple real estate developers and investors in joint ventures involving commercial, mixed-use, industrial, and multifamily properties with an aggregate value in excess of $1 billion.
  • Represented client in transactions involving the redevelopment of the former Charlotte Knights baseball stadium into a large mixed-use development consisting of office, retail, and residential uses.
  • Served as tax counsel to Fortune 500 automobile dealer for federal and state tax advice, including providing tax opinions for multiple restructuring transactions.
  • Represented one of the largest U.S. commercial truck tire distributor and retread companies in a leveraged management buyout and subsequent financing and acquisition transactions.
  • Represented a regional hotel management company in more than $100 million in acquisition, development, and financing transactions, including a historic hotel in South Beach (Miami, Florida) and a mixed-use property in downtown Charlotte that included residential, commercial, and hospitality uses.
  • Represented a national development company as joint venture and tax counsel in more than 20 private equity, pension fund, and real estate investment trust (REIT) transactions involving multifamily properties/developments valued in excess of $500 million.
  • Served as tax counsel in the implementation of an Internal Revenue Code Section 1031 like-kind exchange program for a national rental company's rental fleet.
  • Negotiated multiple joint ventures and M&A transactions and served as outside general counsel to a North Carolina-based tobacco company.
  • Represented a foreign publicly traded retailer in an IRS controversy involving cross-border transactions with more than $100 million in dispute.
  • Represented a publicly traded retailer in more than 25 joint ventures involving investments with an aggregate value in excess of $300 million, and in the disposition of its interests in several joint ventures.

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Honors & Awards

  • The Best Lawyers in America in Tax Law, 2009-2025; Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), 2017-2025
  • Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers in Tax, 2022-2024
  • North Carolina Super Lawyers, 2011-2019; Rising Star, 2009-2010
  • Business North Carolina magazine’s "Legal Elite" in Tax & Estate Planning, 2007-2013, 2016; Young Guns, 2007
  • Charlotte Business Journal's 40 Under 40, 2006
  • Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished™ in Federal Income Tax; Limited Liability Companies; Partnership Taxation; Like Kind Exchanges; Low Income Housing Tax Credits; Hotel and Resort Development

Memberships

  • North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants, 2008-present
  • Matthews Free Health Clinic, Board of Directors, 2008-2013
  • Speedway Children's Charities, Officer