Jane Wells May is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and is based in the Firm's Chicago office. Jane heads the Firm’s State & Local Tax Practice Group. She focuses her practice on state and local tax matters.
Jane represents businesses in connection with state and local tax controversies at the audit, administrative and judicial levels around the United States. Her clients include companies in manufacturing, retailing, pharmaceuticals, automotive, health care, energy, technology and insurance industries. She has successfully litigated state and local tax matters raising a variety of statutory and constitutional issues. Jane has defended numerous internet sellers in several states against cases brought under state whistleblower statutes alleging fraudulent failures to collect and remit use tax.
Jane also advises business clients on tax planning matters and represents athletes and entertainers in connection with employment contract issues.
A member of the Taxpayer’s Federation of Illinois Policy Committee, Jane is a regular speaker at seminars on state and local tax issues. She is a member of the Chicago Bar Association’s State and Local Tax Committee and is admitted to practice in Illinois. Jane was named a leading tax lawyer in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 editions of The Legal 500 United States, which states that she has “built a noteworthy local and state taxes practice.” She was also ranked by Chambers USA in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, which notes that she “is full of energy and brings a wealth of experience to the work.” Furthermore, say the Chambers rankings, Jane is “excellent from an advocacy point of view” and is considered a “strategic leader” in state and local tax. She has also been named an Illinois Super Lawyer in the tax area by Law & Politics.
At Vanderbilt University, Jane was senior articles editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review and a member of Order of the Coif and Moot Court Board.
Education
- Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D., 1986
- Wittenberg University, B.A. (with honors), 1980
