Executive Summaries & Bios

Day 2: Tuesday, May 24, 2011

 

 

 

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CAROLINE HELBRONNER (Coordinator) - Email: caroline.helbronner@blakes.com

Caroline Helbronner is a Partner in the Pension & Employee Benefits and Tax Groups. Her practice relates primarily to pension, benefit and compensation issues, and related investment arrangements.
Caroline advises employers, financial institutions and consulting firms on pension and benefit issues arising in a wide range of circumstances, including surplus and contribution holiday disputes, crossborder situations and corporate transactions. She also advises extensively on matters related to ongoing compliance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements. As well, Caroline is involved with the
design, drafting and implementation of a variety of pension, retirement and benefit plans, and related funding arrangements and investment vehicles.
Caroline has written and spoken on a wide range of topics in the areas of pension and employee benefits. She is a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation, the International Pension and Employee Benefits Lawyers Association, the Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute, the Association of Canadian Pension Management and the Ontario Bar Association. Caroline is a member of the editorial board of the
Federated Press publication Taxation of Executive Compensation and Retirement. Caroline is also a member of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario's Legal Advisory Committee on Pensions. In The Best Lawyers in Canada 2011, she was voted by peers as one of the leading employee benefits lawyers.
Education
Admitted to the Ontario Bar - 1987
LL.B., University of Toronto - 1985
B.A., Queen's University - 1982

 

STEFAN TABAK – Email: stefan.tabak@shell.com

Stefan Tabak is Senior Legal Counsel and Compliance Officer for Shell Pensioenbureau Nederland. His employer is the trustee support unit of the Dutch Shell Pension Fund Foundation, the largest company pension fund in The Netherlands. Stefan previously worked for Shell Asset Management Company and consulting firm Watson Wyatt, now part of Towers Watson.

 

AN VAN DAMME – Email: an.vandamme@claeysengels.be

An Van Damme is a Partner at the law firm Claeys & Engels in Belgium. This is a specialist law firm offering a full range of legal services in all areas concerning human resources and personnel policy. An Van Damme is specialized in "pension law" and is a member of the Dutch-speaking section of the Brussels Bar since 1993. She graduated from the Catholic University of Leuven (K.U. Leuven) in 1992 and studied International Politics and Economy at the American Johns Hopkins University in 1993.

 

 

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GRAHAM DAMANT – Email: g.damant@bowman.co.za

Graham Hugh Damant (Graham) was born in Johannesburg on 29 August 1956.  He studied for his LLB at the University of Witwatersrand from 1976 to 1983.  From 1983 to 1984 he studied further at the London School of Economics for his LLM (Collective Labour Law), Individual Employment Law, Company Law and Industrial & Intellectual Property.  Graham received the Butterworth Prize for Practical Legal Studies.                                                                                         

Graham served his articles at Damant Bostock & Co.  He also worked at Webber Wentzel & Co and later joined Bowman Gilfillan from 1985.  Graham became a partner from 1988 in Bowman Gilfillan’s Employment Law Department.  He practices in all areas of employment law but specialises in employee benefits and in particular issues surrounding pension funds, medical aid and share option schemes.                                                                                            

In the pensions field, Graham has been involved in advising a number of employers and pension funds on the surplus legislation.  He is involved in assisting pension funds to regularise their affairs in circumstances where there has been non-compliance with the Pension Fund Act.  He also serves on a number of Tribunals.  Graham has presented papers at various local and international pension law seminars.  On the employee benefits side, Graham has been involved in advising a number of employers on the proper exercise of discretions where such discretions exist in share option schemes and in other benefit funding vehicles.                                             Graham is the head of the Employment Law Department.  He serves on the Executive Committee of the Firm.  

 

HENRIC DIEFKE – Email: die@msa.se

Henric Diefke is a Partner and the Head of the Employment and Pensions Practice at Mannheimer Swartling Advokatbyrå AB. Mannheimer Swartling is the leading business law firm in the Nordic region. The firm works with many of Sweden’s, and the world’s, leading major and mid-sized companies and organisations. Henric has a wide-ranging employment and pension practice, and assists on a regular basis the firm’s corporate clients on all areas of employment and pension law. He is also legal advisor to a number of pension funds and benevolent societies, and is secretary of a board of one of the larger pension funds in Sweden. He often provides pension, benefits and employment expertise in the context of corporate transactions. He teaches regularly on the law program at the School of Economics and Commercial Law at Gothenburg University as well as on continuing professional education and training courses at West Sweden Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He has been named in, inter alia, Chambers & Partners' Chambers Europe and Legal 500.

 

MITCH FRAZER (Coordinator) – Email: mfrazer@torys.com

Mitch is a Partner and the Head of the Pensions and Benefits Practice at Torys LLP. His practice focuses on all aspects of pension and benefits matters, including ongoing pension plan administration, compliance and investment issues, surplus withdrawal, contribution holidays, payment of administrative expenses, pension plan wind-ups and pension solvency funding issues, and non-pension and post-retirement benefits issues. He also provides pension, benefits and employment expertise in the context of corporate transactions. Mitch is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and a former Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ontario Science Centre, a member of the North York General Hospital Foundation Board of Directors, a member of The Belinda Stronach Foundation Advisory Board, Co-Chair of The Learning Partnership’s Annual Tribute Dinner, a member of Ryerson University's Campaign Cabinet, a past-President of the University of Western Ontario Law Alumni Association and was a member of the Ontario Government's post-secondary education advisory committee on first generation students. Mitch is Vice-Chair of the Canadian Bar Association Pension and Benefits Section, Past-Chair of the Ontario Bar Association Pension and Benefits Section, a member of the International Pension and Employee Benefits Lawyers Association’s Executive Steering Committee and Chair of the Association of Canadian Pension Management's Advocacy and Government Relations Committee. He publishes and speaks regularly on pension and benefits issues and has been interviewed on television, radio and in print.  Mitch has been named in Chambers & Partners' Chambers Global:  World's Leading Lawyers for Business, The Client's Guide as a leading practitioner in pension and benefits law and in Woodward White's Best Lawyers in Canada as a leading lawyer in employee benefits law. In 2008 he was named by Lexpert Magazine as one of Canada's leading lawyers under 40 and in 2010 he was selected by Precedent Magazine as one of the inaugural winners of the Precedent Setter Award in recognition of excellence and leadership in practice and in the community and by Wilfrid Laurier University as the winner of the MBA Outstanding Executive Leadership Award.

 

TOM JORGENSEN – Email: tjorgens@calfee.com

Thomas A. Jorgensen is Of Counsel in the Cleveland office of Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP where he specializes in employee benefits and executive compensation counseling.  He works closely with clients to develop executive compensation plans, qualified and nonqualified employee benefit plans, health benefit and incentive plans.  He aids both publicly and closely-held companies and joint ventures with tax issues related to retirement planning, employee stock ownership plans, stock option and restricted stock plans.

Mr. Jorgensen served as the first President of the Board of Governors of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, an organization of 330 attorneys who have specialized in employee benefits for at least 20 years and have written or spoken extensively on employee benefit matters.   He has served as chairman of the American Bar Association’s Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, Chair of the ABA Tax Section’s Employee Benefits Committee, a member of the Council of the Section of Taxation of the ABA, a member of the Council of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section of the ABA, a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Continuing Education of the Bar, Chair of the ABA Section Officers Council Committee on the Annual Meeting, Chair of the ABA Section Officers Council Committee on Technology, a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Technology and Information Systems, and Chair of the Committee on Plan Terminations and Mergers.  He has also served as chair of the United States Chamber of Commerce’s Task Force on Qualified Plan Regulations, and the chair and executive committee member of the Midwest Pension Conference.  He served as a member of the Internal Revenue Service’s Advisory Group for two different IRS Commissioners.  He has been Chair, Treasurer and a member of the Steering Committee of the International Pension and Employee Benefits Lawyers Association and a member of the leadership group of the Tax Committee of the International Bar Association. 

Mr. Jorgensen has lectured at organizations such as the ABA, AICPA, ASPA, NYU Federal Tax Institute, International Bar Association, International Pension and Employee Benefits Lawyers, ALI-ABA, and the Midwest Pension Conference and has written on topics such as “Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions,” “Employee Stock Ownership Plans,” “Executive Compensation,” and “Flexible Compensation.”  He has testified to the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. Congress on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 

Mr. Jorgensen has been a guest instructor at IRS classes training IRS agents to deal with qualified plan issues and has received the IRS TE/GE Division Commissioner’s Award for participation in the EP Great Lakes Customer Satisfaction Team Project and the IRS TE/GE Employee Plans Certificate of Appreciation for participation in the Ad Hoc IRS Employee Plans Partnering Group.

Mr. Jorgensen received his LL.B. from Duke University in 1967, where he was Order of the Coif, and his B.A. from Columbia College in 1964.  He began his tenure with Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP in 1967, became a partner on January 1, 1974 has served as a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, and became Of Counsel on March 25, 2008.

 

 

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MICHEL BENOIT – Email: mbenoit@osler.com

 

EMMA FROST - Email: emma.frost@cms-cmck.com

Emma is a partner in the pensions team at leading law firm CMS Cameron McKenna LLP in the UK. She advises a wide variety of clients on all aspects of pensions law (including litigation matters and corporate transactions). She is a full member of the Association of Pension Lawyers and a speaker on one of their regular courses. She is also a member of the Association of Pension Lawyers International Sub-Committee.

 

KOBUS HANEKOM (Coordinator) – Email: kobus.hanekom@simekaconsult.co.za

Kobus is Head of General Consulting at Simeka Consultants & Actuaries, an independent benefit consulting company in the Sanlam Group. He serves as principal consultant in respect of fund governance and compliance and is principal officer of the Sanlam Umbrella Fund. He is a certified financial planner and was admitted as an attorney, notary and conveyancer in 1983, after completing a B.Iur. and an LL.B. degree. He was a founding member and chairperson of the Pension Lawyers Association of South Africa, authored Volume I of The Manual on South African Retirement Funds, currently in its 16^th, edition and lectures the pensions subjects in the Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Management offered by the University of Stellenbosch.

 

 

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MAJA MARIC (Coordinator) – Email: m.maric@dnb.nl

Maja Maric is supervisor-lawyer for the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). She works at the expert centre material compliance and supervision. DNB exercises prudential and material supervision of financial institutions, amongst others, Dutch pension funds.

 

JOELENE MOODLEY – Email: joelene.moodley@gepf.co.za

Joelene Moodley serves as the Head of the Legal and Compliance Division at the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF).  The GEPF is the largest pension fund in Africa with some R800 Billion assets under management.  Ms. Moodley also acts as legal counsel for the Board and assists the Board in ensuring that the Fund complies with all relevant statutory and regulatory requirements. She is responsible for providing advice to the Board and the Principal Officer on all legal and compliance matters. She is also tasked with the development and maintenance of compliance risk management plans and the monitoring of those compliance risk management plans. Furthermore, she is responsible for the management of all litigation faced by the Fund. For an 18 month period between 2008 & 2009, Ms. Moodley oversaw the HR function at the Fund.

She has also presented at numerous conferences hosted by amongst others the IIR and Corporate

Lawyers Association of South Africa on various  pension, governance and compliance topics.

Ms. Moodley holds a B.Proc & LLB from the University of Durban Westville.  She completed her Masters in Law focusing in corporate law in 2006 at the University of Pretoria. She has also recently completed an Advanced Programme in Risk Management with the University of South Africa and has ten years post admission experience as an attorney.

 

ANNE SLIVINSKAS – Email: anne_slivinskas@otpp.com

Anne Slivinskas is Senior Legal Counsel, Member Services for the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which administers the pensions of 284, 000 active and retired teachers in Ontario, Canada. In her practice, she provides advice on regulatory compliance, policy development and spousal entitlements.

Anne is a member of the Legal Advisory Committee to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and is also a member of the Executive of the Pension and Benefits Section of the Ontario Bar Association (“OBA”). She played a lead role in the OBA’s submissions to the Law Commission of Ontario on the Division of Pensions Upon Marital Breakdown and has spoken on the topic of pension division at various continuing legal education programs.

CATHY SMITH (Coordinator) – Email: csmith@usvigers.com

Cathy M. Smith serves as the General Counsel of the Employees Retirement System of the Government of the Virgin Islands (“GERS”).  Her employer is one of the oldest pension systems under the U.S. flag having begun operations in October 1959.  Ms. Smith’s responsibilities include oversight of all legal work, obligations, and relations of the GERS, and management of the Legal Office.  She provides legal advice to the executive and senior management staff, on statutory interpretation, and other pension issues.  She also represents the GERS in litigation and matters before all regulatory agencies.

Prior to coming to GERS, Ms. Smith was in private practice for approximately 2 years, where she represented a wide variety of clients in predominately personnel litigation matters and also served as counsel to a labor organization.  Ms. Smith also served as General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel of the Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority for 13 years. 

Ms. Smith participated as a speaker at the 2010 International Pension and Employee Benefits Lawyers Association in Quebec, Canada.

Ms. Smith received her Bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and her law degree from Tulane University School of Law.  She is a member of the Louisiana State Bar  and the Virgin Islands Bar.  She is admitted to practice  before the courts in Louisiana and the Virgin Islands, as well as the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

 

 

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FLORENCE HOLDEN – Email: florence.holden@towersperrin.com

Florence is a Senior Consultant in the human resources consulting practice of Towers Watson. She leads the firm's Canadian practice in pension plan governance. Her practice has an emphasis on the resolution of the legal and tax problems associated with pension and benefit plans and related plan trusts, benefit issues related to acquisitions and mergers, pension plan governance, and capital accumulation plans. In over twenty years in the pension industry, she has consulted to companies in a variety of both public and private industries.

Florence is an active speaker and author on pension and benefit issues. She has presented papers on pension governance at many conferences, including: The Canadian Bar Association - Ontario, The American Bar Association, International Pension and Benefits Lawyers' Association, the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Institute and Federated Press.

Ms. Holden is the past Chair of the Canadian Bar Association, Ontario, Pension and Benefits Section; a past member of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario's Advisory Council; a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation; a member of the Canadian Pension and Benefits Conference; a member of the Association of Canadian Pension Management; and a member oft he International Pension and Employee Benefit Lawyer's Association. She holds both a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and a Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) degree from York University. She has been a member of the Financial Services Tribunal of Ontario since August 2004 and was appointed a Vice Chair in 2009.

ALBERT VAN MARWIJK KOOY – Email: Marwijkkooy@vandoorne.com

Albert van Marwijk Kooy (1958) studied law at Groningen University and Duke University (US, LLM). He became a partner at Van Doorne in 1993 and has years of experience in the areas of employment law and corporate law. Albert is an experience litigator and has a track record in complex employment law cases. Since 2005 he focuses entirely on pensions related issues (he heads Van Doorne's pensions desk) and board room disputes. Albert's experience as board member in various organizations (including at Van Doorne) has given him great insight into the ins and outs of being an entrepreneur. 

Albert is recommended in various international legal directories as a specialist in the areas of pensions and labour law. 

BILL WRIGHT (Coordinator) – Email: wwright@laborlawyers.com

 

 

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LOUIS KUYPERS (Coordinator) - Email: l.kuypers@houthoff.com

Louis Kuypers is a partner at Houthoff Buruma since 1992. He heads the Pension and Employee Benefits Practice. His practice focuses exclusively on pensions, benefits and compensation issues, in all legal and tax aspects. He is involved in litigation concerning surpluses and deficits and regularly advises pension funds, employers and employee representatives. He is also regularly asked to speak and lecture at various national and international conferences and courses. He is a former Chair and Treasurer of IPEBLA.

 

MARTIN ROCHETTE - Email: mrochette@ogilvyrenault@com 

Martin Rochette practises exclusively in the area of pension and benefits law. He is Co-Chair of Ogilvy Renault Pension and Benefits Law Team. Mr. Rochette has focused on all legal aspects of employee benefits, especially pension plans, since 1977. He regularily advises employers, plan administrators, trustees an pllan service providers. He is a frequent speaker on pension and benefits matters and is very involved in the pension and benefits community.

 

FLAVIO RODRIGUES – Email: frodrigues@bocater.com.br

Flavio Martins Rodrigues is a Senior Partner of Bocater, Camargo, Costa e Silva Advogados, Law Office in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Brasília). Master’s Degree in Tax Law; MBA in Pension Funds; and Graduate Course on Pension Reform (Harvard University).
A specialist in pension fund law, he was the Managing Director of the Rio de Janeiro State Pension Fund (RIOPREVIDÊNCIA) (1999/2002). He chaired the Certification Institute of Social Security (ICSS) (2002/2003).
He is the author of two books: one on Pension Funds for Civil Servants (Fundos de Pensão de Servidores Públicos) and the other on Pension Funds: Legal Issues (Fundos de Pensão: Temas Jurídicos), both released by Editora Renovar, a publishing house in Rio de Janeiro. He also edits the Pension Fund Review, with several technical articles published in large-circulation newspapers and specialized journals.

GRACE ZULU – Email: grace@mukuba.com.zm / gracezulu@gmail.com

Grace Zulu is the Board Secretary for Mukuba Pension Trust, a mining sector scheme which is one of the oldest and largest occupational pension schemes in Zambia. She is the Vice President of the Kitwe and District Chamber of Commerce and Industry, one of the largest and most active chambers in Zambia. She also sits on the Copperbelt University Public Procurement Committee, an agent of the Zambia Public Procurement Committee.

 

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HAROLD ASHNER (Coordinator) - Email: haroldashner@keightleyashner.com

Harold Ashner is a partner at Keightley & Ashner LLP, a boutique law firm focusing on Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation matters. He served as PBGC’s Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Regulations until early 2005.  Mr. Ashner is active in the American Bar Association, is a Fellow and Member of the Board of Governors of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, and is routinely retained by major law firms and employers to deal with PBGC‑related issues.

 

CAROLINE HELBRONNER (Coordinator) - Email: caroline.helbronner@blakes.com

Caroline Helbronner is a Partner in the Pension & Employee Benefits and Tax Groups. Her practice relates primarily to pension, benefit and compensation issues, and related investment arrangements.
Caroline advises employers, financial institutions and consulting firms on pension and benefit issues arising in a wide range of circumstances, including surplus and contribution holiday disputes, crossborder situations and corporate transactions. She also advises extensively on matters related to ongoing compliance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements. As well, Caroline is involved with the
design, drafting and implementation of a variety of pension, retirement and benefit plans, and related funding arrangements and investment vehicles.
Caroline has written and spoken on a wide range of topics in the areas of pension and employee benefits. She is a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation, the International Pension and Employee Benefits Lawyers Association, the Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute, the Association of Canadian Pension Management and the Ontario Bar Association. Caroline is a member of the editorial board of the
Federated Press publication Taxation of Executive Compensation and Retirement. Caroline is also a member of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario's Legal Advisory Committee on Pensions. In The Best Lawyers in Canada 2011, she was voted by peers as one of the leading employee benefits lawyers.
Education
Admitted to the Ontario Bar - 1987
LL.B., University of Toronto - 1985
B.A., Queen's University - 1982

 

JIM KEIGHTLEY – Email: jimkeightley@keightleyashner.com

Partner in the law firm of Keightley & Ashner LLP specializing in pension plan issues involving the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, where he was General Counsel from 1995 to 2005.  He had a 25-year career at the Internal Revenue Service in various senior counsel positions.  Bar member, Virginia, District of Columbia, United States Supreme Court.  Education:  Villanova University (A.B. 1964), Cornell Law School (LL.B. 1967), George Washington University Law School (LL.M. Taxation 1970).

 

DEVI SHAH – Email: dshah@mayerbrown.com

Devi is a partner in the Mayer Brown’s London office.  Devi focuses on all aspects of restructuring and insolvency and has a particular interest in international and cross-border insolvency and restructuring matters, as well as pensions aspects of restructurings.  She advises on the mitigation of insolvency risk in buy-in transactions, the insolvency implications of the use of contingent assets and other alternative financing structures.  She also advises pension trustees, sponsors and funders in relation to refinancing and restructuring proposals by sponsor groups.

 

MARTIN VIEWEG – Email: viewegm@alte-leipziger.de

Martin Vieweg is Legal Adviser for employee pensions with ALTE LEIPZIGER Lebensversicherung, the INSUROPE partner in Germany. He is responsible for designing and implementing occupational pension schemes for multinational companies in Germany. Before this he worked at a German audit firm and also with a notary in Israel. Martin is co-author of numerous articles about German and international issues in the field of occupational pension schemes. He also is a committee member of the International Employee Benefit Association Germany. After studying at Universität Münster in Germany and Universität Bern in Switzerland Martin graduated from Universität Passau in Germany.

 

 

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ANNE CORBETT (Coordinator) – Email: acorbett@blgcanada.com

Anne Corbett is a Partner with the law firm of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Toronto, Canada where she specializes in the areas of pension law and corporate commercial law. She is Past Chair of the Pension and Benefits subsection of the Canadian Bar Association (Ontario). She is currently the Vice-Chair of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and the Vice-Chair of the Financial Services Tribunal. In that capacity she sits as an adjudicator of pension matters.
She advises clients on a variety of pension benefits and related investment arrangements and
corporate and commercial law issues including: governance issues, fiduciary duties and liabilities,
surplus entitlement, contribution holiday issues, plan interpretation and interpretation and application of applicable legislation. She was the program chair for the IPEBLA conferences in 1999 and 2001 and served as a member of the IPEBLA Steering Committee from 2003 until 2007.

 

DAVID GERAL – Email: d.geral@bowman.co.za                                                              David Geral is a partner at Bowman Gilfillan in the firm’s Pensions, Healthcare and Employee Benefits practice area.  Bowman Gilfillan is one of Africa’s largest corporate law firms with affiliations in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria, and is the Lex Mundi Member firm for South Africa.
David regularly advises local and foreign companies, funds and service providers on governance, contracting, compliance and dispute resolution. He authored the Pensions title in Lexis Nexis Law of South Africa.

CAROLYN TRENDA – Email: ctrenda@mcguirewoods.com

Carolyn Trenda is an attorney with McGuireWoods LLP in its Chicago, IL office.  She advises public, private and non-profit employers on a range of employee benefits topics, including tax-qualified retirement plans (defined benefit and defined contribution plans), deferred compensation plans, profit sharing plans and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). She also helps clients with health and welfare plan matters as well as non-qualified, stock option and fringe benefit plans.

 

KOEN VAN DUYSE – Email: koen.vanduyse@tiberghien.com

Koen Van Duyse is Tax lawyer. He joined Tiberghien in 1997 and is Partner since 2002.  Tiberghien is the leading Belgian tax law firm, focusing on tax.  Koen’s primary focus is on compensation schemes, pensions, pension funds and banking and insurance. He is lecturer 'Taxation of Cross Border Pensions' at the University of Louvain. He is executive member of several tax law reviews and of the Belgian Pension Lawyers Association (Bepla).

 

 

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HOWARD PIANKO (Coordinator) – Email: HPianko@seyfarth.com

MARY PICARD - Email: mary.picard@fmc-law.com

Mary Picard is the leader of the pensions group of Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP.  FMC Law is a full-service firm with more than 500 lawyers in offices across Canada.  Mary counsels companies that sponsor pension plans, and their pension committees, on a variety of pension governance issues.  She and her partners have created new pension law in high-profile litigation and insolvency matters. 

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KEES-PIETER DEKKER (Coordinator) – Email: kees-pieter.dekker@cliffordchance.com

Kees-Pieter Dekker is a senior associate pensions law in the Amsterdam offices of Clifford Chance. He has over 15 years experience in pensions and has written several articles and other publications. In May 2009, he started working on his doctorate about solvency supervision of pension funds.

 

JONATHAN MORT – Email: jmort@mortlaw.net

 

 

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GREGORY BROWN - Email: gregory.brown@kattenlaw.com

Gregory K. Brown – Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Partner, Chicago, Illinois.
Mr. Brown has 34 years of experience in Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation, including extensive work with ESOPs and ERISA; he has authored and co-authored numerous articles; is a frequent speaker on ESOPs and all areas of employee benefits and executive compensation; and has represented clients as an expert witness on behalf of client(s)’ ESOP/Employee Benefits Plans both regionally and nationally.

J.D., University of Illinois (1976); B.S., University of Kentucky (1973).

 

JANA STEELE – Email: jsteele@goodmans.ca

Jana Steele is a partner and head of the Pensions, Benefits and Compensation Law Group at Goodmans LLP in Toronto.  Her employer provides services to clients in all areas of pension law and has assisted in the formation of pension plan policy and drafting of legislation in countries other than Canada. Jana provides advice on pension issues such as plan structure, governance, administration, compliance, trustee obligations, surplus matters, plan conversions, plan mergers, transfers and plan wind-ups.  Jana also has significant experience dealing with other plans and employee compensation matters.

 

SUSAN WETZEL (Coordinator) – Email: susan.wetzel@haynesboone.com

Susan Wetzel is a partner with Haynes and Boone, LLP, one of the fastest-growing firms in the United States, with more than 500 lawyers, 35 practice specialties, and 12 offices worldwide. Ms. Wetzel currently serves as Chair of the Employee Benefits/Executive Compensation practice group, and counsels employers, executives and compensation committees regarding design, implementation, and compliance issues relating to employee benefit plans and executive compensation. Ms. Wetzel was named one of the Best Lawyers under 40 in 2006 by D Magazine and since 2009, has been listed as one of The Best Lawyers in America in Employee Benefits Law. 

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MARK GRANT (Coordinator) – Email: mark.grant@cms-cmck.com

Mark Grant is a partner in the pensions team in the London office of firm CMS Cameron McKenna LLP.  He advises trustees and employers on all aspects of pensions law.  He is a member of the Association of Pension Lawyers' Litigation Committee, chairs the Pensions Ombudsman Liaison Group and is the author of the book The Pensions Ombudsman: Powers, Procedures and Decisions (Sweet & Maxwell). He has formerly been the co-editor of the IPEBLA journal and IPEBLA's membership secretary and assistant editor of the Occupational Pensions Law Reports.

 

DAVID MAIN – Email: dmain@algoodbody.com

 

                                                                                                                                      Please click here to download Executive Summary.

CAMILLA BARRY (Coordinator) – Email: camilla.barry@macfarlanes.com                               Camilla Barry is a partner at Macfarlanes LLP.  She has specialised in pensions law since 1997 and joined Macfarlanes in 2007.   
Camilla advises on all aspects of pensions law, including contentious and non-contentious.  She regularly advises corporate groups, private equity houses and trustees in matters requiring the involvement of the Pensions Regulator.  She has substantial experience of transactions with an international element, including international relocations and cross-border pension arrangements.  
Camilla is a member of the International Sub-committee of the Association of Pension Lawyers and a regular speaker at events organised by the Association of Pension Lawyers. Camilla is a contributing author of Pension Scheme Deficits: Practical Solutions by Globe Law and Business.

 

MARK CERCHE - Email: mark.cerche@aar.com.au
Mark Cerché is a Partner with Allens Arthur Robinson an Australian law firm.  He has considerable experience in superannuation law and has presented at many IPEBLA Conferences.  Mark acts for major Australian funds.  He is Chair of the Corporate Superannuation Association and a Member of the Law Council of Australia's Superannuation Committee.  Mark has advised the Australian Government, the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Thailand on their pension systems.

 

HARM PRINSEN - Email: hprinsen@deloitte.nl

Harm Prinsen (1967) is a tax partner with Deloitte and has almost 20 years experience in international employment law, tax and pension law. Harm started as an employment lawyer (1993) in the international law practise of Andersen Legal. Currently Harm works together with 150 other professionals in the Global Employer Services practice and is responsible for the Amsterdam based team. His team assists several Dutch and foreign based multinationals on their mobile staff.

 

SUSAN SEROTA - Email: susan.serota@pillsburylaw.com

Susan Serota is the leader of Pillsbury’s Executive Compensation & Benefits practice. Susan advises on  pensions, employee benefits, executive and equity compensation. She has significant experience on ERISA fiduciary matters, international benefits, employee benefit aspects of cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and securities law matters.  From August 2006-2007, Ms. Serota was the Chair of the ABA Section of Taxation  and was past Chair of the ABA Tax Section’s Employee Benefits Committee. Susan is a Charter Member of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel.  At the appointment  of the US Secretary of the Treasury, she serves on the IRS Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities.   From 1993-1995, Susan Serota served as Co-Chair of IPEBLA.  She is ranked by Chambers USAundefined 2009 and 2010 as a “Star Performer” in New York and in Tier 1 nationally.