Jackson Walker partners Michael Kaufman and Jim Griffin participated in a panel discussion on March 6, 2013, at the Dallas Bar Association Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Law Section’s March meeting.
Mr. Kaufman and Mr. Griffin spoke on the highlights of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. Their discussion focused on employee benefit changes of the Act, as well as estate and gift law changes. Mr. Kaufman spoke about the important new portability rules that apply to estate planning for spouses, while Mr. Griffin provided strategies for using the expanded in-plan Roth transfer rules.
Mr. Kaufman practices in the areas of estate planning and administration and charitable organizations. His practice has encompassed all areas of individual and family asset planning including design, drafting and implementation of family limited partnerships and related entities, public and private charitable entities, charitable remainder trusts, wills, insurance trusts, revocable (or “living” trusts) and other taxable and nontaxable gift transactions. His experience ranges from planning for the disposition of small simple estates through planning for management and disposition of complex estates with assets in excess of one billion dollars. Mr. Kaufman is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and is Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He has been named a “Texas Super Lawyer” by Thomson Reuters each year from 2003-2012. Mr. Kaufman received both his B.A. degree in Psychology, with honors, and his J.D. degree from the University of Texas. As an undergraduate, Mr. Kaufman was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Mr. Griffin concentrates his practice in the area of employee benefits and executive compensation. He works with clients in various industries including technology, manufacturing, retailing, energy, and financial services. He advises clients on design, administration and compliance issues arising under the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, and other laws. Mr. Griffin received his B.B.A. degree, summa cum laude, in 1983 from Texas Tech University and his J.D. degree, cum laude, from SMU in 1986, where he was an editor of the SMU Law Review and a member of Order of the Coif.
