Real estate law, community work keep Purdom busy

Law Talk profile for The Memphis Daily News

March 7, 2013

Clay Purdom, director and shareholder with Martin, Tate, Morrow & Marston PC, says he comes from a “numbers family.”

His father and sister are both physicists, and his grandfather was one of the first certified public accountants when the formal licensing process first began.

“He lived in Louisville and I think his CPA number was 9 and mine is about 17,000 and something,” Purdom said.

Purdom was born in Owensboro, Ky., and attended the University of Mississippi for a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in taxation. He attained his CPA license and came to Memphis to work for accounting firm KPMG LLP.

Purdom went back to Ole Miss for his law degree but then returned to Memphis, his adopted hometown.

“I like the feel of it,” he said. “It’s kind of a big small town and it felt very welcoming, the people did.”

Purdom, who had clerked at Martin Tate during summers after his second year of law school, was offered a full-time position in May 2005. He practices mainly in the areas of commercial real estate and lending, with some tax planning and property tax appeal work as well … (read more)