John M. Scott, III
As a member of Turner Padget’s Business Transactions Group, John Scott focuses his practice in business representation and tax planning. His advanced education and training in taxation helps him provide creative and effective solutions to his clients’ individual and business related goals and objectives.
John’s client base is as diverse as his practice, with clients ranging from individuals and medical practices, to middle-market, closely held businesses with multi-state operations. John’s clients are located throughout the Pee Dee region and the state, and are as far reaching as Maine. The needs and issues that John addresses for his clients range from mergers and acquisitions to tax-free reorganizations and succession planning; from estate and wealth protection planning to the administration of estates and trusts; from the organization of non-profit, tax exempt entities to the formation of business entities such as limited liability companies and corporations; from general contractual governance matters to fee-in-lieu of tax agreements; and from commercial real estate and finance transactions to Section 1031 exchanges and conservation easements.
John’s connections to the law and the community run deep. He is a fourth generation attorney in Florence, S.C. and is active in a number of civic and charitable organizations. He is Chairman of the McLeod Foundation Professional Advisors Committee, a board member of the Eastern Carolina Community Foundation, and a board member of the Florence Kiwanis Club. John was a 2005 graduate of the Leadership Florence Program, and is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Florence, where he is a youth basketball coach.
“With so much public attention given to the adversarial process, I believe that one of the most overlooked duties that we as attorneys have is that of acting as a counselor to our clients. With that in mind I pride myself on not only being a strong advocate for my clients’ interests, but in understanding my clients’ personal and business circumstances and needs. I advise them on difficult issues and then develop creative solutions to help them navigate through the issues and accomplish their goals.”
Representative Matters
Mergers and Acquisitions
Represents both buyers and sellers in numerous merger and acquisition transactions with private and publicly held companies involving the purchase and sale of assets comprising businesses, or the purchase and sale of stock or other forms of ownership interests, with cumulative values in excess of $100 million.
Conservation Easements
Acted as land trust counsel and landowner counsel in numerous conservation easement transactions, which placed over 11,500 acres and their associated ecological, historic and scenic values under protection.
Economic Development Incentives
Assisted in the implementation of a tax incentive-based economic development package with a net present value of approximately $13 million for a multi-national wholesaler.
Trusts and Estate Planning
Developed and implemented numerous sophisticated estate plans to provide for wealth and asset protection, the orderly distribution of assets, and the minimization of estate and transfer taxes. Such plans have utilized tools including revocable and irrevocable trusts, Delaware trusts and limited liability companies, charitable remainder trusts, sales of assets to intentionally defective grantor trusts, family limited partnerships and qualified personal residence trusts.
Healthcare Industry
Negotiated and closed a multi-million dollar credit facility to provide operating capital for a group of four related nursing home facilities.