James V. Cole II

Jim Cole earned his law degree from George Mason University, where he was the Senior Notes Editor of the Law Review.  He has written scholarly works on plan asset transfers and multiemployer apprentice plans.  He is comfortable delving into arcane and intellectually challenging matters, his mind trained to think logically, reason carefully, and express itself rationally.

So why is it that a visitor to his office can’t avoid noticing that he keeps a “Magic 8 Ball” on his desk? 

“I only consult it when I have a really tough decision to make,” Jim says, laughing, and then adds:

“As an employee benefits lawyer, I am often dealing with client issues that are so complicated or difficult that answers may appear unobtainable.  The Magic Eight Ball reminds me to keep the proper perspective on my work—to give my clients answers they can use and understand in the real world, not self-aggrandizing mumbo jumbo.”

Jim has been providing practical answers to tough questions for multiemployer clients and tax-exempt organizations since the mid-1990s.  He has a wealth of experience with a broad range of ERISA issues, has drafted scores of plan amendments, has worked with the IRS to obtain determination letters and private letter rulings, and has developed particular expertise with tax qualification for charitable organizations. 

Jim’s occasional reliance on his somewhat unusual consultation aid does not mean that he takes his work lightly.  Just the opposite.  “As the largest pool of investment money in the world, our health and retirement benefits systems are the future of the United States in more ways than one,” he notes.  “Helping to shape the rules around the investments and the benefit structure of those plans is a way that I can contribute to society that is consistent with my beliefs about the importance of labor to the American enterprise.”

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