John L. Coalson, Jr.

• In the area of unclaimed and abandoned property, has represented more than 50 national companies in connection with multistate audits and/or voluntary disclosures.
• Has advised more than 75 companies in connection with structuring of their gift certificate, gift card and merchandise credit operations.
• Has represented clients in negotiations and provided legal opinions in connection with purchases and sales of businesses, reorganizations and evaluation of potential exposures and establishment of appropriate reserves and compliance projects.
• Led the successful defense of Simon Property Group’s gift cards’ dormancy charges and expiration dates in Benson v. Simon Property Group, 281 Ga. 744 (March 2007). 
•  Has represented more than 100 clients in state tax matters before the Georgia Department of Revenue and state tax administrators in other states involving state income, sales/use and property taxes.
• Representative state tax litigation: Delta Air Lines, Inc. v. Clayton County, 246 Ga. App. 225, 539 S.E.2d 905 (10/30/2000); Equifax Check Services v. Tenn. Dep’t of Revenue, 2000 Tenn. App. Lexis 412 (6/27/2000).

John Coalson’s practice focuses on unclaimed property law and state and local tax issues. Over the course of a distinguished career in which he has been widely recognized as one of the leading practitioners in his field nationally, John has advised almost half of the Fortune 100 on unclaimed property and tax matters. He has represented dozens of major corporations in unclaimed property audits and voluntary disclosures before the administrators in Delaware, New York and more than 40 other states. He is also one of the leading attorneys in the country in advising clients regarding unclaimed property, tax, consumer protection and other regulatory issues related to gift cards, loyalty/awards/incentive programs, discount voucher programs, virtual gift cards and other stored value/prepaid access products. John has advised more than 75 companies on the structuring of gift card programs, including retailers, restaurant operators, airlines, hotel/resort operators, vacation programs, spa and health club operators, and discount voucher sales programs. John is the co-author of the BNA Unclaimed Property Portfolio, more than two dozen published articles and more than 100 technical papers on unclaimed property and tax law.

Bar Admissions

• Georgia

Education

• University of Georgia (J.D., 1977)
• Emory University (B.B.A., 1974)

Memberships