Overview

Prestin Weidner’s practice primarily involves federal and state tax structuring, planning and advice for business transactions, mergers and acquisitions, investment transactions, real estate transactions, recapitalizations, the formation of partnerships, joint ventures and other business entities, employment agreements and non-qualified deferred compensation plans, and equity and equity-based compensation plans. He also advises fund sponsors and investors on fund formations and investments, including co-investments. Prestin also engages in general business and corporate matters, including drafting and negotiating agreements for investment and acquisition transactions, entity formations, employment agreements, and equity incentive and other compensation plans. 

Outside the office, Prestin enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, reading historical fiction, golfing and following Florida State athletics.

Honors

  • The Best Lawyers in America® (2021-2024)
  • TAMPA Magazine's Top Lawyers (2023)
    • Tax Law

Credentials & Experience

Education

Florida State University, B.S., 2001, magna cum laude

  • Beta Gamma Sigma
  • Golden Key
  • Phi Kappa Phi

Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D., 2004

  • Order of the Coif
  • Vanderbilt Law Review: Articles Editor
  • Moot Court Board

Georgetown University Law Center, LL.M., 2005, Distinction: Graduate Tax Scholar

Bar Admissions

American Bar Association

The Florida Bar

Hillsborough County Bar Association

Experience

  • Representing a Tampa-based private equity fund in connection with the formation of its fund and the structuring of its portfolio investments.
  • Representing Baldwin Risk Partners, one of the fastest growing independent insurance brokerage firms in the country, as corporate counsel, in connection with the corporate reorganization completed to facilitate its initial public offering (NASDAQ: BRP).
  • Representing TowerCom, a Jacksonville, Florida-based communications tower developer, as it received an equity investment from M/C Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm. This investment will allow TowerCom to continue to execute on its robust tower build plan on behalf of national and regional wireless
  • Serving as transaction tax counsel to Atchafalaya Measurement, Inc., a Louisiana-based portfolio company of KLH Capital, a Tampa-based private equity fund, in its sale to Southern Petroleum Laboratories, Inc.
  • Serving as transaction tax counsel to a portfolio company of a Tampa-based venture capital fund in connection with its recapitalization and investment by another private equity fund.
  • Serving as transaction tax counsel to the shareholder of Freedom Boat Club in connection with its sale to Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC).
  • Serving as transaction tax counsel to Argus Dental & Vision, Inc. and its owner in its sale to Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL).
  • Serving as transaction tax counsel to HireQuest Holdings, LLC in its merger with Command Center, Inc., creating HireQuest Inc. (NASDAQ: HQI).
  • Serving as transaction tax counsel to Chris Craft Corporation, a recreational boatbuilder headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, in its sale to Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE: WGO).
  • Representing a NYSE-listed public company in connection with the long-term and equity incentive compensation programs.
  • Serving as outside tax counsel to a financial services firm in connection with its broker reporting and tax compliance requirements.

Professional & Civic

Community & Professional

  • Epilepsy Services of West Central Florida, Inc.
    • Immediate Past President (2018-2019)
    • Board President (2017-2018)
  • Hyde Park United Methodist Church
    • Scholarship Committee (2016-2018, 2021)
    • Permanent Endowment Fund Committee (2012-2014): Chair (2014)
  • High Risk Hope, Inc.: Advisory Board, Former Member
  • American Bar Association: Tax Section
  • The Florida Bar: Tax Section, Former Chair, Annual moot court competition
  • Hillsborough County Bar Association: Tax Section

Newsroom

Articles & Publications

  • Presentation (Highlights of the Proposed Section 199A Regulations), August 2018.
  • Presentation (Cherrypicking in Rollover Equity Transactions), August 2019.
  • Presentation (Section 1031 Proposed Regulations), August 2020.
  • The Misappropriation of Trust Fund Taxes Under the Guise of Reasonable Cause. (2004). Vand. L. Rev., 57, 287.
  • Teleconference Presentation (with John Connery): "Business Entities: Tax Issues in Structuring Equity and Equity-Based Compensation Arrangements." National Business Institute, 2011.
  • Presentation: "LLC or Inc.?" Entity Selection for a Small to Medium Sized Business: S Corporations in Detail." National Business Institute, 2012.
  • Presentation "LLC or Inc.?" Entity Selection for a Small to Medium Sized Business: Tax Considerations for LLCs." National Business Institute, 2012.
  • Presentation (with Rachel Feinman): "Legal Traps for Startup Entrepreneurs." USF Blue Sky Program, February 2012.
  • Presentation: "Top 10 Mistakes 501(c)(3) Organizations Make: Compensation Issues: Executive Director, Board Members, and Disqualified Persons." National Business Institute, 2015.
  • Presentation: "Top 10 Mistakes 501(c)(3) Organizations Make: Florida State Tax Exclusions and Exemptions." National Business Institute, 2015.
  • Presentation: "Top 10 Mistakes 501(c)(3) Organizations Make: Failure to Consider UBIT Issues." National Business Institute, 2015.
  • Presentation (with Greg Brown and Steve Karasick): "Drafting and Litigating Non-competition and Non-solicitation Agreements in Florida's New Legal Landscape." November 2016.
  • Webinar (with Greg Brown): "Drafting and Litigating Non-competition and Non-solicitation Agreements in Florida's New Legal Landscape." June 2017.
  • Presentation: "LLCs from Start to Finish: The Series LLC: Nuts and Bolts." National Business Institute, February 2018.
  • Presentation: "LLCs from Start to Finish: LLC or S-Corp Tax Considerations." National Business Institute, February 2018.
  • Client Advisory: "Updated Rules For Online Sales Tax Collection." July 2018.
  • Teleconference Presentation: "What Tax Reform Means for LLCs and Other Pass-Through Entities." National Business Institute, September 2018. 
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