Graeme F. Philp

Graeme focuses his practice on tax, economic development, corporate law and estate planning matters. He enjoys working closely with clients to assist them in achieving their investment and other goals. Graeme represents clients in a wide range of industries, with significant recent experience representing clients in the real estate development, resort and hospitality, commercial office, manufacturing, logistics, energy and technology industries with their tax, economic development and corporate needs.

Graeme works with new and expanding businesses looking to invest in South Carolina to identify and negotiate economic incentive packages, including Fee-in-Lieu of Tax Agreements (“FILOT”), Payment-in-Lieu of Tax Agreements (“PILOT”), state and local grants, job tax credits, sales and use tax exemptions as well as other available economic development grants and incentives. His background in state and local taxation gives Graeme special insight into the need of clients to integrate their economic incentive packages with their overall state and local tax planning strategies.

Graeme works with developers and real estate investors in connection with all aspects of their tax and corporate planning needs, including tax-incentivized financing methods such as opportunity zones, historic tax credits, low-income housing tax credits, abandoned building and textiles revitalization tax credits and other state specific state tax credits. He also represents clients with corporate governance and transactional needs, such as purchases and sales of businesses, mergers and acquisitions and shareholder agreements. A significant portion of Graeme’s practice involves assisting clients with their property tax, income tax, sales and use tax and business license reporting obligations and in developing strategies to minimize the financial impact of those obligations.

Graeme also enjoys representing clients with respect to their estate planning needs, including drafting wills, trusts, limited liability company operating agreements and other related documents to implement their planning goals while minimizing potential income, gift and estate tax liabilities. He has significant experience representing larger estates with their tax reporting obligations, as well as both larger and smaller estates with the South Carolina probate process.

Graeme received an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law in 1998, a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1997, where he was a recipient of the Arthur B. Custy Tax Award (most outstanding tax student), and received both his Master of Accounting and B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1992.

Graeme is admitted to practice law in both South Carolina and New York.  He is also a North Carolina Certified Public Accountant.

Graeme is Peer Review Rated – AV (Preeminent) in Martindale-Hubbell; recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for Tax and Estate Law, Corporate Law and Closely Held Companies and Family Business Law (2016-present, 2022 “Lawyer of the Year”); recognized in Charleston Business Magazine’s Legal Elite in Tax and Estate Law (2017-present) and Corporate Law – Mergers and Acquisitions (2022 Top Voted Recipient).

Before joining Graybill, Lansche & Vinzani, LLC, Graeme was an equity partner and led the South Carolina tax practice of the largest law firm located in the Carolinas and prior to that practiced in New York City with a firm that consistently ranked in the American Lawyer’s “A-List” of 20 leading U.S. law firms.

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Contact

843.377.5339 Direct
gphilp@glvlawfirm.com Email
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