Now in his 30th year of private practice, Mr. Sommer's comprehensive practice focuses on controversy, litigation and planning relating to tax matters, primarily state and local tax matters and incentives. He has been involved as counsel in well over a thousand controversies and disputes successfully resolving countless tax issues before the administrative and judicial systems of numerous jurisdictions, and assisted in hundreds of transactions and planning situations providing strategic advice. Mark chairs the Tax, Employee Benefits & Estate Planning Practice Group at Frost Brown Todd, where he also leads the Tax and Incentives Teams.
Mr. Sommer is a Fellow in the American College of Tax Counsel, one of only four from the Commonwealth of Kentucky and also has been recognized for years as a "Super Lawyer" in Kentucky. Mark has also been recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in America for twenty years in Tax Law and in Litigation & Controversy - Tax and was honored by State Tax Notes as one of its two "Practitioners of the Year" in 2015 and one of its "persons of the Year" in 2013 making him the first so recognized two times. He serves on several American Bar Association, Section of Taxation committees and projects, currently serving as Vice-Chair of the Committee on State and Local Tax. He was recently appointed by Gov. Bevin to serve on the Kentucky Lottery Corporation Board, where he presently serves as Chairman, and also serves on the Advisory Boards of the Paul J. Hartman Memorial State and Local Tax Forum at Vanderbilt University, the Journal of State Taxation, the Deloitte Center for Multistate Taxation at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the Bloomberg BNA Multistate Tax Advisory Council, the CCH Multistate Corporate Tax Guide, and State Tax Notes.
Mr. Sommer has written extensively in the area of state and local taxation. His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including several Institute for Professionals in Taxation (IPT) publications, authoring the Kentucky Chapter of the ABA's Property Tax Deskbook, various Council on State Taxation (COST) publications, State Tax Notes, The Journal of State Taxation, Tax Notes, The Journal of Property Taxation, Bloomberg BNA's Multistate Tax Advisor, The Tax Lawyer, and still many others. He also was the Contributing Editor of CCH's Guidebook to Kentucky Taxes (all editions), and serves as General Editor of Lexis Nexis Tax Practice Insights for Kentucky.
Mr. Sommer is a frequent speaker and lecturer on state and local tax matters at conferences, forums and groups such as IPT, Hartman SALT Forum, Deloitte & Touche Multi-State Tax Institute, Kentucky Society of CPAs, COST, Tax Executives Institute, Georgetown's Advanced State and Local Tax Conference, Ohio Tax Conference, Kentucky Bar Association (past Tax Section Chair), Louisville Bar Association (past Tax Section Chair), and the American Bar Association. He previously served as Chair of the SEATA Industry Council, and is now serving as Chair-Elect of the ABA SALT Committee.
Mr. Sommer obtained his JD from the University of Cincinnati College of Law and his BSBA from Xavier University.
Contact Mark by email at msommer@fbtlaw.com.
