J. Theodore Jackson, Jr.

Mr. Jackson has been with the firm since 1970 and has been a shareholder since 1973. He practices primarily in the areas of utility law, taxation (including tax planning and disputes arising out of audits), general corporate law, municipal and corporate finance, and the law of cooperative organizations. These areas of practice have also given him substantial experience and expertise in the law of natural resources with emphasis on procurement, as well as administrative law and the drafting, analyzing, and reviewing of legislation.

He also continues an active practice in estate planning, probate and administration of estates, and the representation of colleges, universities, charitable trusts and foundations and other nonprofit organizations and their members.

Mr. Jackson represents several utility cooperatives engaged in generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. He also represents agricultural cooperatives, a large number of corporate and other business clients, and bond issuing authorities.

Mr. Jackson is currently serving on the Alabama Law Institute Standing Trust Committee.

Examples of Recent Financing Transactions

Bond Counsel for $57.9 million tax exempt water and sewer bond issue

Bond Counsel for $11.3 million tax exempt water and sewer bond issue

Issuer Counsel for $250 million tax exempt Go-Zone bond issue

Bond Counsel for $40 million tax exempt pollution control bond issue

Issuer Counsel for $30 million tax exempt university facilities and $10 million taxable university facilities bonds

Bond Counsel for $9.2 million tax exempt educational facility bonds

Bond Counsel for $10 million natural gas, electricity, water and sewer authority bonds

Issuer Counsel for excess of $1 billion mortgage indenture notes to Federal Financing Bank

Obligor Counsel for $384.4 million Build America bonds

Examples of Other Recent Transactions

Represented purchasers of over $1 billion of coal

Represented purchaser of natural gas wells in situ as well as probable and potential reserves

Represented educational institutions and several foundations in conforming to Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act

Represented businesses in sales, use, gross receipts and business privilege tax cases

Performed legal work for establishment and maintenance of two business parks

Negotiated several electric power purchase agreements

Reviewed proposed legislation annually for trade associations

Presentations

Appeared on a legal panel for the annual Electricity Generation and Transmission Lawyers Seminar in Seattle, Washington

Lectures at University of Alabama Law School, Alabama State Bar Continuing Legal Education Programs, and Medical and Dental Organizations

Frequently speaks at seminars for utility companies

Lectured at Jones School of Law on Corporations, Federal Income Tax, Federal Estate and Gift Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Wills, and Trusts

Recently moderated a day long roundtable of electric utility industry issues in San Antonio and Charleston

Honors and Awards

The Best Lawyers in America® has selected Mr. Jackson as “Lawyer of the Year” in the 25th Edition.  He has recently been honored for his work in Litigation and Controversy – Tax in Montgomery, Alabama.  Only one lawyer is selected for this title in a specific practice field and location, and must obtain a number of positive votes per year for recognition in each edition.

Mr. Jackson has been selected for inclusion in the 2014-2019 editions of The Best Lawyers in America® (and every year since its inception, for over 20 years), and has been named a Top Lawyer by Corporate Counsel Magazine. He has served as the Alabama coordinator for the Electric Cooperative Bar Association since its inception. He has been AV Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell for over 30 years. He has served as special assistant attorney general and as president of the by invitation National Association of Electricity Generation and Transmission Attorneys for two years.

Mr. Jackson has served for seven years on the Samford University Board of Trustees, including three years on its Executive Committee, and he has served as director of the Alabama Law Institute for 15 years, as well as on the ALI drafting committees for the Uniform Custodial Trust Act (1997), the Uniform Limited Partnership Act (1998), the Limited Liability Company Act (1983), the Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act (1998), and the Uniform Trust Code (2003).

The Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives recently presented the prestigious Eminent Service Award to Mr. Jackson at its 64th Annual Meeting held in Montgomery.  The Eminent Service Award honors individuals who make outstanding contributions to Alabama’s and  to the nation’s electric cooperatives. Only individuals of the highest caliber and with qualifications of great achievement contributing to the rural electrification program are chosen for this award.

The Best Lawyers in America® has named Mr. Jackson as the “Montgomery Best Lawyers Trust and Estates Lawyer of the Year” for 2012.  The lawyers being honored as “Lawyers of the Year” have received particularly high ratings in the publication’s surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.

Mr. Jackson has been chosen as the winner of the 2013 Corporate INTL Magazine Legal Award in the category ‘Energy Law – Lawyer of the Year in Alabama’.

Acquisition International has recently named Mr. Jackson “Most Trusted Municipal Bond Adviser of the Year – Alabama”.

The Best Lawyers in America®, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, has named Mr. Jackson “2014-2015 Montgomery Litigation and Controversy – Tax “Lawyer of the Year”. The lawyers being honored as “Lawyers of the Year” have received particularly high ratings in the publication’s surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.  Only a single lawyer in each practice area, in each community, is being honored as a “Lawyer of the Year.”  Mr. Jackson has also been chosen for the 2019 edition of Best Lawyers in America for Litigation & Controversy – Tax, Tax Law, Trusts & Estates.

Community Involvement

From 2000 to 2015, Mr. Jackson served as the President of Community Ministries, Inc., which operates food and clothing distribution centers, assists the poor in finding jobs, provides counseling, teaches English as a second language, and provides motel rooms, food and other needs to poor persons who live more than 75 miles from Montgomery and who have a loved one hospitalized in Montgomery.

Mr. Jackson also helped organize and then served as director for 15 years of Interdenominational Police and Firemen Chaplaincy. He is also a trustee and deacon of First Baptist Church, where he has served as a Sunday school teacher and chairman of the Finance and Administration Committee.

Mr. Jackson is also a member of the Samford University Howard Arts and Sciences Advisory Committee and the Samford Planned Giving Advisory Committee.

• Utility and Energy Law
• Corporate/Public Finance and Securities Law
• Corporate and Business Practice
• Administrative Practice and Governmental Affairs
• Environmental Law
• Estate Planning and Probate
• Federal, State and Local Taxation
• Mergers, Acquisitions, and Dispositions of Businesses
• Nonprofit and Tax Exempt Organizations
• Economic Development

• B.A., Samford University (magna cum laude), 1966
• LL.B., University of Virginia, 1969

• Alabama State Bar
• Montgomery County Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• Chairman, University of Alabama Tax Seminar
• Chairman, Montgomery Estate Planning Council
• Internal Revenue Service Regional Liaison Committee