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Michael G. Kushner
mkushner@curtis.com
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New York Office
Practice
Michael G. Kushner is Counsel to the Firm’s New York office, specializing in employee benefit law and ERISA, areas in which he has more than 20 years of experience. His practice includes advising financial institutions, hedge funds and other private investment funds regarding issues under Title I of ERISA. He also counsels corporate clients on the design and implementation of qualified and nonqualified retirement plans, health and welfare benefit plans, cafeteria plans, COBRA, HIPPA, Title II of ERISA (tax issues) and Title IV of ERISA (plan terminations).
Mr. Kushner advises clients on the employee benefit aspects of mergers and acquisitions and similar corporate transactions and represents clients in ERISA matters before the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, state and local agencies and in court cases. He also represents clients on the employee benefit aspects of bankruptcies and reorganizations and represents multinational companies on international employee benefit, executive compensation, employment contract, nonqualified deferred compensation and global stock/equity pay plan issues and issues under new Internal Revenue Code Sections 409A and 457A. He is a nationally recognized authority on multiemployer pension and welfare benefit plans and on reporting and disclosure under ERISA.
Mr. Kushner also represents clients from China in matters relating to international employee benefits, investment, corporate and tax matters. He has spoken in China on issues such as international tax planning and Doing Business in the United States. He specializes in Chinese “outbound” investment, i.e., Chinese companies seeking to do business in the U.S. and has expertise in the tax and other financial incentives available to Chinese businesses and investors offered by U.S. state and local governments.
In addition to being a member of the Firm’s Tax Practice Group, Mr. Kushner is a member of the Firm’s Securities, Investment Funds and Financial Products Practice groups. Before joining Curtis, Mr. Kushner practiced law with Crowell & Moring and Coudert Brothers and served as National Director for Retirement Plan Compliance for a large national employee benefits consulting firm.
Mr. Kushner has served as an Adjunct Professor at Dickinson College School of Law, Carlisle, PA, where he taught a course in ERISA for the LL.M. program in Commerce and Taxation, and as an Instructor at Georgetown University, where he taught employee benefits law in the Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) program.
Mr. Kushner is an accomplished writer. He is a 10-time winner of the BNA Tax Management Certificate of Excellence in Tax Writing and Analysis and has been featured as one of the nation’s top tax practitioners on Tax Management’s annual tax calendar. He also serves as Chair of the ABA Committee on Employee Welfare Benefits, Section of Real Property, Probate and Trusts and is a member of the board of directors of the New York City chapter of the employee benefits group “WEB.”
Mr. Kushner is admitted to practice in New York, Washington, D.C. and Maryland.
Education
- LL.M., Taxation, George Washington University, 1982
- J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, 1977
- B.A., George Washington University, 1974
Associations
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American Bar Association, Chair, Committee on Employee Welfare Plans of the ABA’s Real Property Probate and Trusts Section.
- Member, American Bar Association, Sections on Taxation and Real Property, Probate and Trusts.
- Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB), Member, Board of Directors, New York Chapter.
Speaking Engagements
- Frequent speaker before employee benefits audiences, including the American Bar Association, Benefits Management Forum and Expo, International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, Profit-sharing and 401(k) Council of America, WEB, and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
- Speaker on issues involving investment in the United States by Chinese businesses, including issues of employee benefits, international taxation, corporate, labor and securities law.
Publications
- “Roll Out the TARP: IRS Provides Guidance on Limits on Executive Pay for Financial Institutions that Accept Government Funds,” BNA Tax Management (2009)
- “DOL Issues New Bulletin on Exercise of Proxy Voting Rights on Behalf of ERISA Plans,” BNA Tax Management (2009)
- “Do You Want Fries with That Plan? IRS Memo Discusses Use of “ROBS” Plans to Fund Start-up Businesses,” BNA Tax Management (2008)
- BNA Tax Management Portfolio No. 359, Multiemployer Plans--Special Rules
- BNA Tax Management Portfolio No. 361, Reporting and Disclosure under ERISA
- Tax Management Tax Practice Series on CD. Author of chapters on qualification and taxation of qualified retirement plans, executive compensation, welfare benefit plans, fringe benefits, COBRA and HIPPA
- Co-author, Portfolio No. 45 BNA Corporate Practice Series Federal Taxation of Employee Benefits
- Co-author, Choice of Form of Business Entity – Legal Considerations, Portfolio No. 50 BNA Corporate Practice Series
- Co-author, Employee Benefits Desk Encyclopedia, BNA Books, 1996
- Co-editor, ERISA: The Law and the Code, BNA Books (1994-2007)
- Co-editor, ERISA: The Regulations, BNA Books (1994-Present)
Languages
English, French
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