Sigmund serves as chair of the firm’s Employee Benefits & ERISA area, and also focuses his practice in the areas of estate planning, business succession and tax law. He has been with the firm since 2008 and has been practicing law since 1978.
Employee Benefits & ERISA
Tom has over 30 years of experience practicing law and is well known for his ERISA work. He works with clients, from individuals to large organizations, to achieve their goals with the design, implementation, and administration of both qualified and non-qualified retirement and deferred compensation plans. Additionally, Tom represents closely-held businesses and business owners regarding fringe benefits, compensation planning, 409A issues and insurance planning. He has a wealth of experience in the design and implementation of executive compensation plans, employment agreements and severance agreements. Tom counsels clients and has served as an expert witness in ERISA litigation cases with respect to both pension and welfare benefit plan matters. With mergers or acquisitions, Tom regularly assists clients with the employee benefit issues that surround these transactions.
Estate Planning and Business Succession
Another focus of Tom’s practice is his work in business succession and estate planning. Tom counsels individuals and business owners on sophisticated techniques to accomplish their estate planning and business succession objectives. This counseling often entails cutting-edge tax savings measures which dovetail with the client’s personal and business objectives. Tom’s counsel often encompasses creditor protection planning. Tom has served as an expert witness in probate court litigation matters in state and out of state.
Sigmund serves as chair of the firm’s Employee Benefits & ERISA area, and also focuses his practice in the areas of estate planning, business succession and tax law. He has been with the firm since 2008 and has been practicing law since 1978.
Employee Benefits & ERISA
Tom has over 30 years of experience practicing law and is well known for his ERISA work. He works with clients, from individuals to large organizations, to achieve their goals with the design, implementation, and administration of both qualified and non-qualified retirement and deferred compensation plans. Additionally, Tom represents closely-held businesses and business owners regarding fringe benefits, compensation planning, 409A issues and insurance planning. He has a wealth of experience in the design and implementation of executive compensation plans, employment agreements and severance agreements. Tom counsels clients and has served as an expert witness in ERISA litigation cases with respect to both pension and welfare benefit plan matters. With mergers or acquisitions, Tom regularly assists clients with the employee benefit issues that surround these transactions.
Estate Planning and Business Succession
Another focus of Tom’s practice is his work in business succession and estate planning. Tom counsels individuals and business owners on sophisticated techniques to accomplish their estate planning and business succession objectives. This counseling often entails cutting-edge tax savings measures which dovetail with the client’s personal and business objectives. Tom’s counsel often encompasses creditor protection planning. Tom has served as an expert witness in probate court litigation matters in state and out of state.
Career Highlights - Listed in Best Lawyers of America, 1997-present, in both Employee Benefits and Estate Planning practice areas.
- Recognized as an Ohio Super Lawyer® by Law & Politics magazine. Ohio Super Lawyers are said to represent the top 5 percent of the legal profession.
- Martindale-Hubbell Rating of AV, which indicates very high to preeminent legal ability and very high ethical standards as established by confidential opinions from members of the bar.
- Serving as an adjunct professor for Capital University Law School’s LLM program, teaching Executive Compensation.
- Served as President of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, Columbus Chapter.
- Served as Chairman of the Columbus Estate Planning Council.
Professional Memberships - Columbus Bar Association, member
- Ohio State Bar Association, member
- Columbus Estate Planning Council, member, past chair
- Columbus Foundation, Legal Advisory Committee, member
- Society of Financial Service Professionals - National Executive Board, member; Columbus Chapter, past president
Publications & Presentations - “Fiduciary Duties in Turbulant Times,” presented to the Society of Financial Services Professionals, 2010 Forum
- “Estate Tax Turmoil,” Smart Business, April 2010
- “Responsibilities of Qualified Plan Fiduciaries,” presented to the Columbus Estate Planning Group, March 2009
- “Family Limited Partnerships are Alive and Well,” Ohio Lawyers Weekly, June 2004
- Co-author, “Employee Stock Ownership Plans Create a Win, Win Scenario,” Business First, September 14, 2001
- “Planning Still A Must With New Rules For IRAs, Qualified Plans,” Business First, February 23, 2001
- “Selecting The Form of Business Entity: Analyzing LLCs and Other Entity Choices,” Contributing Author and Legal Editor
- “Internal Revenue Code §4980A/Grandfather Election,” Sheldon Young Business Organization: Pension and Profit-Sharing Plans,” Matthew Bender Co., 1989
Bar Admissions - Ohio
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio
- U.S. Tax Court
Educations - Juris Doctorate (1978)
The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law - Bachelor of Arts, Political Science(1975)
The Ohio State University
Cum laude
"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; ... to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived; this is to have succeeded."
- Excerpt from Success, Ralph Waldo Emerson