Nationwide employment law firm Jackson Lewis P.C. is pleased to announce M. John Burgess has joined the firm’s Tampa office as a principal. John has nearly 20 years of experience in employee benefits and executive compensation matters. Burgess arrives fromShumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP.
“John’s background and experience will play an integral role in strengthening our capabilities to support our clients,” said Co-Leaders of the firm’s Employee Benefits group, Joy M. Napier-Joyce and Melissa Ostrower, in a joint statement. “He is well known and respected in the ESOP community for consistently providing the very best client service, and will greatly enhance our capabilities in this segment of our practice and beyond. We could not be happier to welcome John to the firm.”
John focuses his practice on employee benefit plans and is a certified public accountant with an extensive tax and accounting background, which includes experience as an auditor with a large accounting firm. He frequently advises employee benefit plan committees, including 401(k) plan committees, on their fiduciary responsibilities and best practices. John works with plans of all sizes, ranging from those sponsored by small, local companies with a few dozen participants to large, multi-national corporations with more than 10,000 participants and billions in plan assets. He also has an extensive executive compensation practice that includes advising on supplemental retirement plans, non-qualified deferred compensation and equity-based compensation.
John is a prominent member of Florida’s ESOP community, advising clients on matters such as plan design, distribution policies, the structure and implementation of ESOP transactions, trustee representation, and administration matters. He frequently presents on ESOP issues at national and regional conferences and has had ESOP-related articles published by Bloomberg Law. In 2020, he helped to start the Florida Center for Employee Ownership, which serves as a central hub for information and resources for Florida businesses that are considering employee ownership. and still serves on its Board of Directors.
“John is a knowledgeable attorney and his experience in employee benefits strengthens the depth of our capabilities in Tampa,” said Office Managing Principal Benjamin D. Sharkey. “He has an outstanding professional reputation for helping companies establish and maintain ESOPs which will be beneficial in meeting the needs of current clients and attracting prospective clients. We are pleased to welcome John to the Jackson Lewis family and our growing Tampa office.”
John is the President of the Florida West Coast Employee Benefits Council, the Chair of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants 2023 Employee Benefit Plans Conference, and is in his second year as the Executive Event Chair of the Sarasota Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
John earned his LL.M. in Taxation from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, his J.D. from Cleveland State University College of Law and his B.B.A. from the University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business Administration.
Source: www.jacksonlewis.com
