George Whitfield practices in the areas of employee benefits and retirement plans, executive compensation, welfare plans, ERISA compliance, health, corporate and tax law. He has focused on employee benefits for more than 35 years, enjoying the challenge of constant change in the applicable law and guidance and its impact on plan choice and design since the enactment of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. He has represented private taxable and tax-exempt employers, including some of the largest employers in West Michigan, as well as small and medium-sized employers and governmental employers.

In 2001, Mr. Whitfield participated in an IRS Great Lakes Area TE/GE project to improve IRS practices and procedures for examination of qualified plans. The first phase of the project culminated in a report to the Director, Employee Plans Examinations. Following enthusiastic approval, Mr. Whitfield also participated in the second phase of piloting many of the recommendations in the Great Lakes Area. Mr. Whitfield was requested to participate in the successor national project to develop updated audit guidelines and procedures. That effort resulted in the development of a new IRS publication (Publication 1-EP "Understanding the Employee Plans Examination Process"), initially suggested by Mr. Whitfield, explaining the employee plans examination process, and the "EP Examination Process Guide," an extensive compendium of information and documentation for taxpayers, practitioners and IRS auditing agents, which appears on the IRS Employee Plans web site. Mr. Whitfield received both regional and national commendations for participation in these projects.

Mr. Whitfield was the original and long-term Chair of the Firm's Employee Benefits Practice Group.

Representative Experience

  • Qualified Plans

    • Works with employers to choose and implement the appropriate types of retirement plans
    • Designs and drafts defined benefit and defined contribution plans, including profit-sharing, money purchase, 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), stock bonus and employee stock ownership plans
    • Advises public and private employers on the employee benefits consequences, including the treatment of defined contribution and defined benefit plans, health and welfare plans, and non-qualified deferred compensation plans, in the context of business acquisitions, sales, mergers and other reorganizations
    • Assists with the design and the implementation of early retirement incentive programs providing augmented retirement and health benefits
    • Advises clients on the process of searching for employee benefits service providers and reviewing and assisting in the drafting and implementation of contractual agreements between employers and service providers
    • Advises and assists employers in the performance of compliance self-audits of employee benefits plans
    • Advises clients on the efficacy and implementation of correction of compliance failures in employee benefits plans, including self-correction and preparation of voluntary compliance submissions to both the IRS and the DOL
    • Assists with standard and distress terminations of defined benefit plans with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
    • Advises and participates in plan examinations and investigations by the IRS and the DOL
    • Counsels employers and plans on the fiduciary duties that result from the establishment and maintenance of employee benefit plans and the management and investment of related assets and the avoidance of conflicts and prohibited transactions
    • Drafts sample forms and procedures and advises employers and plans concerning the acceptance and compliance with Qualified Domestic Relations Orders and Qualified Medical Child Support Orders
    • Successful Pro Bono defense, from 1994 to 1996, against attempted termination by Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation of guaranteed pension benefits of former employees of West Michigan foundry shut down in 1978

  • Governmental and Tax-Exempt Employers

    • Advises on the design and implementation of Section 403(b) and 457(b) plans, including plan documentation under the applicable final regulations
    • Assists in the analysis and application for "church plan" status
    • Advises governmental entities and certain tax-exempt employers concerning the exemption of their plans from ERISA

  • Non-Qualified Plans and Executive Compensation

    • Advises employers concerning the choice, design and implementation of non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements and other executive compensation plans
    • Advises and assists employers concerning compliance and documentation of executive compensation arrangements under Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code
    • Participates in the design and drafting of equity and cash incentive compensation and bonus plans and stock purchase plans
    • Participates in the negotiation and drafting of executive employment agreements, including deferred compensation and other provisions subject to Section 409A

Honors and Awards

  • Best Lawyers in America, Employee Benefits Law, 1987-Present
  • Named the Best Lawyers' 2011 Grand Rapids Employee Benefits Lawyer of the Year
  • Named to Michigan Super Lawyers 2006-Present
  • Fellow, American College of Employee Benefits Counsel 
  • Rated a leader in the field of employee benefits and executive compensation expertise in Michigan by Chambers USA 2009-Present
  • TE/GE Division Commissioner's Award: "In Recognition and Appreciation of Your Dedication and Outstanding Personal Contribution to Accomplishing The Goals and Mission of the Tax Exempt & Government Entities Division and the Internal Revenue Service"
  • Order of the Coif

Bar Associations

  • American Bar Association
    Taxation Section: Committee on Employee Benefits: Past Chair: Subcommittee on VEBAs, Retiree Medical and Other Funding Vehicles; Past Co-Chair: Subcommittees on Welfare Plan Design and Funding, Cafeteria Plans and Reimbursement Accounts and HIPAA, COBRA & State Insurance Regulation of Welfare Plans; Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section; Business Law Section
  • State Bar of Michigan
    Taxation Section: Past Member of Council; Current Member, Founder and Past Chair (1976-81): Committee on Employee Benefits; Business Law Section
  • Florida Bar Association
  • Grand Rapids Bar Association

Teaching and Lecturing

  • Adjunct Professor teaching basics of employee benefits law to masters degree candidates, Seidman College of Business, Grand Valley State University (1984 to present)
  • Frequent speaker at meetings of Great Lakes Area TE/GE Council
  • Program Coordinator for Great Lakes Area TE/GE Council
  • Planning and Program Chair, 2007 national meeting of TE/GE Councils and Liaison Groups, Washington, D.C.
  • Program Moderator, 2010 national meeting of TE/GE Councils and Liaison Groups, Baltimore, Maryland
  • 22nd Annual Insurance Tax Conference, Nov. 6 and 7, 1997; Chicago, IL: Plan Consequences of Worker Reclassification: The Microsoft Decision; Booth v Commissioner – Mortal Blow to Tax-Shelter Welfare Plans?
  • "Are You Ready for New DOL Fee Disclosure Rules?," WNJ Human Resources Seminar, March 25, 2011, Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • "Qualified Plan Pitfalls:  Top Tens You Won't See On Letterman," WNJ Human Resources Seminar, March 23, 2010, Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • "New Compliance Challenges For Employers and Other Plan Fiduciaries," WNJ Human Resources Seminar, September 11, 2008, Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • "The PPA and Defined Contribution Plans," WNJ Human Resources Seminar, May 10, 2007, Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • Mr. Whitfield was selected as a member of a national practitioner panel addressing qualified plan correction procedures at an IRS training conference for new IRS area correction teams held in Philadelphia in 2002
  • Private sector guest lecturer for both the May 2002 and May 2003 Great Lakes Area continuing education conferences of IRS agents and specialists who review and audit qualified plans. Topics included EGTRRA Benedict – Employee Benefit Provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001
  • Speaker and Moderator, 2009 Great Lakes Benefits Conference, Chicago, Illinois
  • Planning Co-Chair and Moderator, 2010 Great Lakes Benefits Conference, Chicago, Illinois
  • Planning Co-Chair and Moderator, 2011 Great Lakes Benefits Conference, Chicago, Illinois

Publications

  • "The Shifting Sands of Funded Welfare Plans," Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal Vol. 31, No. 6, Page 183; June 6, 2003
  • Co-Author, "Division of Retirement Benefits," Michigan Family Law (2004 to present)

Professional Affiliations

  • Great Lakes Area TE/GE Council
    Member (2001-07), a liason group comprised of IRS personnel and area practitioners who share knowledge and expeiences with the goals of improving compliance and administration of qualified plans (two-term limit; continues as active emeritus member)
  • West Michigan Pension Conference
    Co-founder

Community Affiliations

  • Kent County Legal Aid and Defender Association
    Past President and long-term board member

News

Events

©2012 Warner Norcross & Judd LLP. All Rights Reserved

NOTICE. Although we would like to hear from you, we cannot represent you until we know that doing so will not create a conflict of interest. Also, we cannot treat unsolicited information as confidential. Accordingly, please do not send us any information about any matter that may involve you until you receive a written statement from us that we represent you.

By clicking the ‘ACCEPT’ button, you agree that we may review any information you transmit to us. You recognize that our review of your information, even if you submitted it in a good faith effort to retain us, and even if you consider it confidential, does not preclude us from representing another client directly adverse to you, even in a matter where that information could and will be used against you.

Please click the ‘ACCEPT’ button if you understand and accept the foregoing statement and wish to proceed.

ACCEPTCANCEL