Honors & Awards
- The Best Lawyers in America®, 2005-2021 (Employee Benefits Law ERISA)
Admissions
Kentucky, 1990
Education
1979, B.A., Calvin College (Honors)
1980, M.A., University of Michigan
1984, M.B.A., University of Southern California
1990, J.D., Boston College Law School
Overview
My practice covers some territory, including healthcare, employee benefit matters, Wills and Trusts, as well as general business and corporate matters. I am essentially a business and tax lawyer, and I represent small family corporations involved in sale transactions and many physicians who I assist with contractual issues related to buy-ins and healthcare compliance and general employment matters.
A significant part of my practice involves representation of public pension plans and ERISA retirement plans, including Tax Code compliance, fiduciary liability issues and non-qualified deferred compensation. I am responsible for our firm’s prototype plan document, which is an IRS pre-approved retirement plan document that many of our employer clients use. Tax and corporate law involve analytic issues and personal relationships; these elements are what attracted me to practice in these areas of the law.
Estate planning and probate matters bring my practice in front of families that need to make important decisions, and as such, I enjoy making a positive difference in their lives as they address family, legal and tax matters.
My goal for clients first and foremost is to solve their problems, and in that process to explain in straightforward language what the legal issues are. I do not know, because no lawyer knows, all the facts of any surrounding circumstance. It is therefore paramount that a lawyer ask questions which elicit facts that the client may not at first divulge. A good result is only obtained when the client brings all of the relevant facts and works together with the lawyer to come to a satisfactory resolution, settlement, negotiation, transaction agreement or whatever the task may be.
I want my clients to know that I will work at their direction and we set fee expectations up front.
BEFORE MCBRAYER
I practiced with Reed Weitkamp for 23 years and prior to that with Brown, Todd & Heyburn and a brief stint at PNC Bank where I worked with employee benefits, deferred compensation and related items.
My first interest in choosing to be a lawyer was to work with families in their estate planning matters, tax issues and small businesses, to assist them in financial, investment and legal matters. My MBA in finance proves essential in guiding clients who may have business issues as well as legal issues.
I decided to come to McBrayer to work with talented young lawyers. My clients deserve a deep bench of individuals who know and can assist them in future matters. Also, the healthcare section of McBrayer is of interest to me and will afford many opportunities for collegial work assisting existing and new clients.
Primary Practice
Additional Practice Experience
Kentucky Leader
Community/Civic Leadership
- Louisville Employee Benefits Council
- Deferred Compensation Practitioners
- Louisville Forum, Member
- Social Security Payee
- Session Elder at Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church
Professional Activities
- Kentucky Bar Association
- Louisville Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- American Health Lawyers Association
- Louisville Benefits Council
- Louisville Estate Planning Council
- Toastmasters International
News & Insights
News
- August 20, 2020
- Business Lexington, November 2019, November 1, 2019
- U.S. News – Best Lawyers® in America, September 4, 2019
- July 1, 2019
Seminars & Speaking Engagements
- 401(k) Fiduciary Topics, Helm Creznic WilhoitNovember 2018
- Entering PracticeUniversity of Louisville, June 2017
- Asset Protection PlanningMarch 2017
- Nonqualified Deferred Compensation PlansSeptember 2015
- Fiduciary Liability Under ERISAJune 2015
- Financial Reform UpdateLousville, KY, 2011
- Human Resources TopicsElizabethtown, KY, 2011
- HIPAA, Stark, Medical ComplianceLouisville, KY, 2010
- Fiduciary & Other LiabilitiesLouisville, KY, 2010
- Entering Practice Contract NegotiationsLouisville, KY, 2009
- Identity TheftLouisville, KY, 2009
- Required Distributions From Retirement Plans/IRA'sJune 2001
Articles
- Plan Sponsor Fiduciary Summit
- Legal Reform and Affect on AdvisorsJanuary 2011
- Roth ConversionDecember 2009
- Business Considersations for Practicing MedicineJanuary 2008
- Issues to Consider When Hiring EmployeesJournal of the Kentucky Medical Association, June 2005
- Health Law UpdateMay 2005
- Is Your Organization Ready for HIPAA SecurityJune 2004
- 401(k) Plans and Fiduciary ResponsibilitiesMarch 2004
- Complying With New HIPAA StandardsJanuary 2004
- IRA Planning: Strategies for Transferring and Preserving WealthNovember 2003
- Employee Fringe Benefits in Kentucky: Understanding the IssuesMay 2003
- Nuts and Bolts of 401(k) PlansNovember 2002
- Retirement Plan Legal Issues
- Required Minimum Distributions From IRA's
- Hot Topics in Estate Planning