Orin D. Brustad

Of Counsel

brustad@millercanfield.com

Detroit
T: +1.313.496.7605
O: +1.313.963.6420
F: +1.313.496.8452

Orin D. Brustad’s practice focuses on pension and other benefit plans and executive compensation. He represents public and private sector clients in connection with qualified retirement plans, retirement incentives, fiduciary liability, nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements for executives, plans involving the transfer of employer stock to employees, governmental retirement and deferred compensation plans, employment contracts, cafeteria plans, and various types of self-insured and insured welfare plans.

“Clients don’t generally call about easy or unimportant problems. Calls on employee benefit or executive compensation matters involve issues of importance to an individual or an organization. Client inquiries deserve prompt and helpful responses with a combination of technical analysis and practical advice based on extensive experience and specialized knowledge that is continuously updated.”
Orin D. Brustad

Specifically, Orin provides counsel in the following areas:

ERISA Claims and Disputes -- He assists employers in handling benefit claims and appeals under both retirement and welfare plans, and counsels clients through all phases of litigation, as necessary.

Qualified Plans -- He advises clients on all aspects of their qualified pension plans, profit-sharing plans, 401(k) plans, and ESOPs. Services include plan design and drafting; compliance advice; service provider selection (including investment advisers); and employee communications.

Health and Welfare Benefits -- He assists clients with the documentation of service provider contracts, assessing financial reporting valuations (FAS 106), negotiations with insurance carriers, and designing and drafting welfare plans.

Executive Compensation and Benefits -- He negotiates and drafts employment and severance agreements, deferred compensation plans and SERPs, rabbi trusts, stock options and other arrangements.

Mergers and Acquisitions -- He actively supports the firm’s transactional practice, performing both legal benefits diligence, negotiating the benefits-related aspects of the deal, and following through with plan set-ups, spin-offs, and/or terminations as needed.

Experience

Orin prepared an amicus curiae brief on behalf of several public universities in a case decided by the Michigan Supreme Court. The cases dealt with whether health benefits for retired faculty and staff were protected by the Michigan Constitution against impairment or could be modified to increase cost-sharing by retirees. The Court ruled favorably, permitting public employers to increase deductibles and co-pays and expand cost-sharing.

“This helped our clients gain control over what had been runaway health-care costs for their retirees. This has enabled our clients to maintain substantial health coverage for these retirees and their families at a time when many private-sector employers have been forced by economic conditions to reduce coverage.”

Representative public-sector clients (with client permission to identify them): Northern Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University, Lansing and Mott Community Colleges, cities of Detroit, Flint, Pontiac et al., Plaintiffs' counsel in Michigan Judges Association et al. vs. Treasurer of Michigan et al., E.D. Mi S.D. (Case #98-DT-72771-CV). amicus brief in Studier v Michigan Pub. School Employees' Retirement Bd., 472 Mich. 642 (2005).

Representative private-sector clients (with client permission to identify them): La-Z-Boy Incorporated, Dominos Pizza, Inc., Tecumseh Products Company, Comerica, Inc.; Defendants' counsel in First Nat'l Bk of Chicago, Trustee vs Acco USA, Inc. IBT Ret. Plan, et al., 842 F.Supp. 311 (ND IL, ED, 1994).

Representative Matters

International Pension Reform
Asian Development Bank pension reform in Kazakstan, Indonesia, and Thailand and World Bank pension reform in Montenegro

Professional Activities

American Bar Association, Executive Compensation Committee; Employment Taxes Committee; Fiduciary Responsibility Committee
State Bar of Michigan since 1968, Taxation (Employee Benefits) Section; Labor and Employment Section
Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association
Charter Fellow of American College of Employee Benefits Counsel
Benefits Law Journal, Member of Editorial Advisory Board, 1996-98
Michigan Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems
Midwest Employee Benefits Conference

Honors + Awards

Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers, Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation, 2006-present
Best Lawyers in America, Employee Benefits Law 1995-present
Top Benefits Lawyers in the U.S., National Law Journal, 1998
Who's Who in America
Michigan Super Lawyers, Employee Benefits/ERISA 2006-present
DBusiness Magazine, Top Lawyers, Employee Benefits 2011

Publications

"Governmental Pension Plans," chapter of Michigan Municipal Law Handbook, Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys (scheduled for publication 1999)

"Health Plans that Don't Comply with ERISA and the Code," 10 Benefits Law Journal 1 (Winter 1997)

Employee Benefits Answer Book (Forms & Checklists), Aspen Publishers, Inc., 1996 and 1997

"Selective Coverage Cutbacks: Navigating Uncertain Waters," 7 Benefits Law Journal 152 (Summer 1994)

"Litigation Trends under ERISA," Plan Sponsor, September 1994 (p. 70)

"Retirement Benefits for Government Employees," 1 ERISA and Benefits Law Journal 295 (November 1992)

"Effect of Participants' Insolvency," The National Law Journal (January 20, 1992)

"Contingent Workers: Employment Tax and Employee Benefits Issues," 3 Benefits Law Journal 79 (Spring 1990)

"New 401(k) Hardship Distribution Regulations," 68 Michigan Bar Journal 644 (July 1989)

"Gold, Silver, and Tin: Elements of Parachutes," 2 Benefits Law Journal 25 (Spring 1989)

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