Posted: June 2008

Groom Law Group has been ranked the #1 in Employee Benefits law firm by the 2008 edition of the US Legal 500.  Groom was also ranked in ERISA Litigation, Executive Compensation, and Employee Benefits Tax.

The guide notes that the, "one area that the firm cannot be matched is in its wondrous substantive skills; indeed, clients are quick to identify the ‘deep expertise in employee benefits’ and the ‘professionalism of the high-caliber partners and lawyers’ as defining traits of the firm. Not only does the firm find solace in the forbidding wastes of the legislation, but it also has a highly respected advisory practice, which leads clients to consider the team ‘true business partners’ that can be praised for its ‘strategic thinking, as well as its policy thinking’. The firm can also be counted on to ‘tell the truth when others might find it difficult’."  Click here to read the full reviews.

Congratulations to the following individuals who were recognized in the following areas:

Employee Benefits-

Gary Ford, former general counsel to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, is experienced in plan funds and restructuring. He strikes clients as ‘a superb lawyer’ who is ‘encyclopaedically knowledgeable about employee benefits’. Other attributes that clients link to him include his ‘strategic thinking’, his ‘sage advice’, and his soft skills - ‘he has a wonderful sense of humour and remains calm in a storm’, says one client. He furthermore ‘works well with others, and is extremely persuasive’. One client notes that ‘we always feel we are in safe hands’.

Steve Saxon is another major player in the field. One client describes him as a ‘highly skilled professional’ who ‘provides thoughtful advice’ and who ‘works extremely well with the federal employee benefit regulators’.

ERISA Litigation-

Mike Prame chairs the litigation practice, attracting impressed clients with his ‘subject-matter knowledge, sophistication of legal analysis and professionalism in handling relationships with the court, the parties and their fellow lawyers’. Another important member of the team is Christopher Rillo.

Executive Compensation-

John McGuiness is the head of the executive compensation practice, and works extensively on the design and implementation of non-qualified plans and equity compensation schemes. He also has considerable experience in tax law and other regulatory issues.

Employee Benefits Tax-

Louis Mazawey is an immensely experienced benefits practitioner who brings tax expertise to an encyclopaedic knowledge of the field; Mazawey is rated particularly highly for his expertise in retirement and deferred-benefit planning.

David Levine is commended for his skills in combining a clutch of funds into one entity, ‘it was like watching someone solve a Rubik’s cube - every solution made another problem, then suddenly, it was there’. Mark Lofgren meanwhile specializes in designing tax-efficient employee benefit plans. Described as ‘very responsive, and very smart’, Lofgren acts for a number of Fortune 500 corporates on benefits issues.