WELCOME TO THE WP&BC SEATTLE CHAPTER

Richard Birmingham, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Rich Birmingham has over 40 years of experience in both employee benefit consulting and ERISA litigation. He is one of the few lawyers in the country who is listed in "Best Lawyers in America" in two employee benefit categories—ERISA law and ERISA litigation. Rich's command of both the substantive and litigation areas of ERISA enable him to give practical proactive advice when consulting with clients and to obtain early dismissal or settlement when litigating ERISA matters. Rich is a frequent speaker at employee benefit seminars and has published numerous articles and client advisories on a wide variety of employee benefit issues.

Kristy Buckley, Buckley Maxwell Dixon Dolezal

People who know me will tell you that I began reading the Internal Revenue Code at a young age and that spreadsheets and pivot tables bring me joy. I am unequivocally passionate about tax law. In my niche practice of Employee Benefits Law, I enjoy helping employers and associations develop cutting edge techniques to reward employees while taking advantage of tax benefits or avoiding penalties. Benefits Law is one of the few areas where two taxpayers can achieve favorable tax results, which I affectionately call "tax nirvana."

Samuel A. Henson, J.D., CEBS, CEBS Compliant; Chief Legal Officer/Partner; Retirement Plans; Creative Planning

As chief legal officer, Samuel Henson oversees ERISA compliance, DOL/IRS/SEC/PBGC activities and the legislative landscape for more than 50,000 clients and 7,000 associates. He is also a consultative partner in the areas of regulatory and legislative compliance, investment, pension risk management and vendor management. Previously, Henson was senior vice president–director of legislative and regulatory affairs for Lockton Companies and spent almost ten years with the U.S. Department of Labor, where he conducted more than 150 civil and criminal investigations of employee benefits plans, service providers and fiduciaries. He was the 2011 recipient of the Secretary of Labor’s Exceptional Achievement Award. He writes and speaks frequently on numerous fiduciary topics and has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Plan Sponsor Magazine, Benefits Magazine, Benefits Quarterly, Insurance News and Business Insurance. Henson is a past member of the International Foundation’s Corporate Board, currently serves as chair of the CEBS® Committee and served as the 2019 president of the ISCEBS Governing Council. He is a Certified Employee Benefit Specialist®, CEBS Compliant and he holds the ASPPAAPM designation.

He earned his J.D. degree at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law.

R. Bradford Huss, Trucker Huss, APC

Brad Huss is a Director in the San Francisco office of Trucker Huss, APC, which practices exclusively in the fields of ERISA and employee benefits.  Brad concentrates his practice on ERISA litigation, fiduciary responsibility matters, Department of Labor investigations and qualified retirement plans.  Brad has spoken numerous times on these topics throughout the country and has testified before the United States Senate Finance Committee concerning retirement security issues.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Bar Association Retirement Fund and a Charter Fellow and a former member of the Board of Governors of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel.  Brad is a past member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries, a former chair of the Employee Benefits Committee of the Section of Tort Trial and Insurance Practice of the American Bar Association and a past President of the San Francisco Chapter of the Western Pension & Benefits Council.

Kendra Isaacson, Principal, Mindset

Kendra is a Principal with Mindset, an advocacy and advisory firm. Prior to joining Mindset, Kendra served as the Pensions Policy Director and Senior Tax Counsel for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. In these positions, she advised then-Chair Patty Murray on all pension-related issues and managed all aspects of the committee’s retirement agenda. Kendra also advised Senator Murray on all tax-related matters. 

Kendra also served as a Department of Labor detailee to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce as well as an Employee Benefits Law Specialist for the Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration. Kendra’s private sector career includes positions at the HR Policy Association, the law firms Slevin & Hart, P.C. and Venable LLP, as well as at Washington Council Ernst & Young.

Kendra has been an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, and Stetson University College of Law, and is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center (LLM, Tax), The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law (JD), and Dartmouth College.

Kelly R. Lazzara, J.D., Senior Compliance Counsel; Gallagher

Kelly Lazzara joined the Gallagher retirement plan consulting team in October of 2020 as the Senior Compliance Counsel. She has over 15 years of compliance experience, encompassing all areas of the employee benefits industry. In her role, Kelly is responsible for helping retirement plan sponsors deploy fiduciary best practices, mitigate compliance issues, and navigate the evolving regulatory and legislative landscape. 

Prior to joining Gallagher, Kelly worked for Buck Global in its Compliance Consulting Practice and Reed Smith LLP in its employee benefits practice. Kelly earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism/Political Science from The Pennsylvania State University and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Kelly assists Gallagher’s clients on all aspects of employee benefits law as it relates to defined contribution and defined benefit plans, including but not limited to plan administration questions and issues, plan document reviews and compliance, plan design, plan mergers, terminations, and general compliance issues and correction solutions. Kelly has also advised her clients on corporate transactions, including pre- and post-transaction work.

Victor Li, Manager, Baker Tilly 

Victor is a manager in the Equity & Benefits Services and Technology team. He has a strong technical background and extensive experience with the latest technology systems and trends. Victor’s experience includes requirements gathering, business process design, user acceptance testing, production rollout and implementation, system stabilization, client support, and ongoing enhancements for equity compensation and benefits systems. 

Bruce J. McNeil, Partner, Leech Tishman

Bruce J. McNeil represents clients in a wide range of employee benefit matters, including executive and deferred compensation arrangements and complex employee benefits litigation.

Bruce is a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel and is considered one of the country’s foremost authorities on executive and deferred compensation.

Bruce regularly advises clients on a wide variety of issues with respect to tax-qualified retirement plans, including 401(k) plans, 403(b) and 457 plans, nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, equity arrangements, split-dollar life insurance arrangements, COLI, and other forms of executive compensation. Bruce counsels clients on all aspects of tax-qualified and executive and nonqualified deferred compensation plans and arrangements for taxable and tax-exempt employers, employee benefit issues in mergers and acquisitions, fiduciary responsibility, and prohibited transaction issues.