William A. Hazel

Will Hazel is a tax attorney and was a partner of Chu, Ring & Hazel LLP, having joined the firm in January of 1997. Will represents clients in state and local tax controversies, primarily involving the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Recent matters have ranged from multi-million dollar claims for corporate excise tax abatements, sales and use tax abatements, and local property tax exemptions or value reductions on behalf of multi-state corporations to proceedings on behalf of individual taxpayers seeking personal income tax abatements. These matters are primarily heard and argued before the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board and the Massachusetts appellate courts. Will has also testified as an expert on Internal Revenue Code Section 1031 exchange transactions and has provided tax planning advice on such transactions.
Will graduated from Bridgewater State College in 1980 with a B.A. in Political Science and History and he earned his J.D. at the Boston College Law School (magna cum laude). Will began his legal career as a law clerk to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and then as an associate at Bingham McCutchen LLP, where he became a partner in the Tax Department. Beginning in 1995, Will was an attorney at the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, and was appointed and served as the Department’s Acting General Counsel and First Deputy Commissioner during 1996.