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Areas of Practice
- ERISA and Tax Code Compliance
- Employee Benefits Litigation
- Complex Class Action ERISA
Bar Admissions
- Washington, 1994
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Washington, 2003
- U.S. District Court Western District of Washington, 1996
- U.S. District Court District of Colorado, 2009
- U.S. District Court District of New Mexico, 2016
- U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 1996
- U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit, 2013
Education
- University of California, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, California
- J.D. cum laude – 1994
- Law Review: Hastings Law Journal, Associate Managing Editor
- Stanford University
- B.A. – 1989
Classes/Seminars
- Health Plans & ERISA Fiduciary Responsibility, Continuing Legal Education, 2008
- COBRA for Public Employers, Washington Association of School Business Officials, 2008
- ERISA Plan Subrogation & Reimbursement Rights, Annual Conference, Int’l Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, 2007
Honors and Awards
- Wayne Brazil, Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, Judicial Extern
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Washington State Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Mike leads the firm’s employee benefits litigation practice, including successful representation of clients in fiduciary breach cases, complex ERISA class actions, recoveries against plan service providers, and withdrawal liability and collection matters. Mike also serves as regular counsel to a wide variety of ERISA plans and sponsors, and regularly addresses a full range of benefit plan issues, from complex fiduciary and investment questions to tax qualification matters, as well as plan issues arising under Health Care Reform (PPACA), the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and other statutes. Mike regularly drafts plan and trust documents, plan and trust amendments, summary plan descriptions, and plan administrative procedures. Mike also provides advice regarding trust and fiduciary issues for private and governmental plans, plan designs to comply with ERISA and tax qualification requirements, benefit appeals, procedural prudence, and subrogation/reimbursement issues for self-funded health plans.