DENNIS T. BLAIR
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
The Wagner Law Group, Boston, MA
Senior Associate responsible for:
- Designing employee benefit plans, including
- qualified retirement plans and tax-sheltered annuities
- nonqualified deferred compensation
- health and welfare plans (and related funding arrangements such as VEBAs)
- Drafting plan documents
- Negotiating with IRS to obtain favorable IRS determination letters for all types of qualified retirement plans
- Representing clients during IRS, DOL, and PBGC audits of employee benefit plans
- Counseling clients on employee benefit issues
Aon Consulting, Research & Technical Services. Newburyport, MA. (1978-2006)
Research director responsible for:
- Anticipating the information needs of practitioners
- Managing internal and external publications
- Directing research staff of ten professionals
- Answering questions from practitioners about tax, accounting, and funding issues, and legislative and regulatory development affecting human resource management and employee benefits
- Counseling the firm’s investment consultants on compliance with their fiduciary obligations under ERISA and the Investment Advisers Act
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Washington, D.C. (1977-1978)
Staff attorney responsible for:
- Preparing PBGC comments on proposed IRS regulations affecting PBGC’s plan termination insurance program
- Writing legal opinions in response to inquiries to PBGC’s Office of General Counsel
- Advising PBGC case officers handling plan terminations
Suitter, Axland & Armstrong. Salt Lake City, UT (1975-1977)
Associate responsible for:
- Drafting employee benefit plans for the law firm’s clients
- Counseling the law firm’s clients on compliance with ERISA and other federal statutes regulating their employee benefit plans
- Developing the law firm’s immigration practice
EDUCATION
Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, Juris Doctor, 1975
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1971
- Bachelor of Science in Mathematics
- Phi Beta Kappa
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Bar Admissions: Massachusetts, Utah, District of Columbia, New Hampshire
CEBS: Fellow of the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists
Graduate Course Taught: Legal Issues in Human Resources, 1997-2002, at Lesley University School of Management, Cambridge, Mass.
Book Published: The FMLA Guide: Practical Solutions to Administration and Management/Chicago: Irwin Professional Pub., 1996
Articles Published:
- "Tactical Asset Allocation Under ERISA," (PDF) Marcia Wagner and Dennis Blair, 401(k) Advisor, June 2010
- "Is It Now Time for Managed Accounts?" New York University Review of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation, 2009
- "Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System: A Guide for the Novice," Benefits Law Journal, Spring 2008
- "Supreme Court Confirms Health Plan’s Right to Reimbursement from Third Party Recoveries," Benefits Law Journal, Autumn 2006, with Stephanie V. Rosseau
- "Solving the Dependent Definition Dilemma in Employee Benefit Plans," Benefits Law Journal, Spring 2006, with Brian Malynn
- "Dependent care spending accounts—do they make sense in 2003?" Benefits Quarterly, Second Quarter 2003, with Joe Lineberry
- "Designing long-term disability plans: Tax efficiency vs. maximizing wage replacement." Benefits Quarterly, First Quarter 2003, with Randall W. Luecke
- "State Income Tax Statutes Could Frustrate Retirement Plan Sponsors," Benefits Quarterly, First Quarter 2003
- "Retirement planning: More Than Investment Education," Journal of the American Society of CLU & ChFC, May 1995, with Andrea T. Sellars
- "Bankruptcy Protection for Retiree Health Benefits Increasing," Benefits Law Journal, Autumn 1993
- "Insider Reporting and Short Swing Trading Rules for Qualified Defined Contribution Plans," Benefits Quarterly, First Quarter 1992.
- "Defined Contribution Plans and Investments in GICs," Tax Management Financial Planning Journal, Mar. 17, 1992
- "Walking Through the Discrimination Testing Maze for Welfare Plans," Benefits Quarterly, Second Quarter 1987, with Mark W. Kimble
White Papers Distributed to Clients:
- Using Captives to Fund Benefits
- Mergers & Acquisitions: Employee Benefits Due Diligence
- HIPAA Privacy and EDI: Employer Compliance Strategies
- Electronic Plan Administration Standards
- Fiduciary and Investment Issues: Beyond the Basics
- Medicare Part D: An Employer’s Perspective
- Group Term Life Insurance Imputed Income