Vontzalides, Nicholas P.

Jeff Leavitt practices in the employee benefits and tax-exempt organization areas. His employee benefits practice involves public and private sector employers and institutional fiduciaries. Recently he has consulted with both public and private sector employers and public plans concerning plan audit issues and has led teams of lawyers and consultants conducting compliance reviews of plans and their administration. In addition, he has assisted employers in dealing with retiree medical benefits, in designing benefit programs in view of qualified plan nondiscrimination rules, and in handling benefit aspects of acquisitions and dispositions. He also has advised clients with respect to the fiduciary aspects of pension administration and investment, including making contributions of property (including employer securities) to pension plans, real estate investments by pension plans, and handling company stock owned by qualified plans in tender offers. Most recently his fiduciary practice has involved representing directed trustees in connection with the implementation of full-service bundled programs for 401(k) plans offering allied mutual funds as investments. He also has counseled employers and executives with top hat plans and security devices for nonqualified benefits and has helped employers to evaluate and implement benefit-based financing vehicles (e.g., COLI and ESOPs). His speeches include: "Fiduciary Liability: Responsibilities of the Plan Sponsor" and "What To Do If the IRS Audits Your Plan." His articles, "Investment funds: new opportunities under the Pension Protection Act" was published in Insights: The Corporate & Securities Law Advisor, October 1, 2006 and "EPCRS — The Newest Acronym In Qualified Retirement Plan Correction Programs," appeared in the July 1998 issue of The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel.

Jeff's tax-exempt organization practice involves the organization of public charities, private foundations, and supporting organizations; obtaining tax-exemption rulings for such entities; and counseling them on various matters and issues, including grants to U.S. and non-U.S. organizations, investments, unrelated business income tax rules, self-dealing and private inurement, deferred compensation, and rules relating to lobbying and political activities. In addition, he has advised charitable organizations concerning the application of the cy pres doctrine to restricted funds.

He is a member of the ABA (Taxation Section, Employee Benefits Committee and Business Law Section, Employee Benefits Committee) and the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. He is listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers, Ohio Super Lawyers, Who's Who in America, and Who's Who in American Law.