About Russell E. Greenblatt

As the principal author of the IRS regulations on voluntary employees' beneficiary associations (VEBAs), Russell Greenblatt is uniquely qualified to help companies find the best employee welfare benefits plan for their workforce and shareholders. Russell's practice focuses primarily on these plans and funding vehicles for them such as VEBAs.

Welfare benefit plans should also benefit business

Russell's experience with employee benefits includes design, documentation and implementation of employee welfare trusts. He shows large employers and their service providers how to navigate federal regulations to accomplish their goals. His clients appreciate the way he proactively proposes practical solutions to resolve everyday business challenges.

Russell has represented employers and trusts before the IRS and Department of Labor (DOL) in audits, ruling requests and litigation. Before joining the firm in 1980, he served as an attorney-advisor with the Employee Plans and Exempt Organizations Division of the Office of Chief Counsel to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Washington, DC.

A sought-after lecturer on welfare benefit plans and related funding vehicles, Russell has spoken to the American Bar Association, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York University Tax Institute. His articles have been published in Taxes, Taxation for Lawyers, The Journal of Taxation and Benefits Law Journal. 

Russell has testified before the Congressional Ways and Means Committee and the IRS on pending benefits legislation and regulations. He also taught at The John Marshall Law School's LLM in Employee Benefits Program as an adjunct instructor.

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Practice Focus

  • Employee benefits and executive compensation
  • Corporate
  • Privacy, data and cybersecurity
  • Design, documentation and funding welfare benefits
  • Tax controversy and litigation

News

Publications

Presentations and Events

Practices
Industries
Education
  • Northwestern University School of Law, JD, cum laude
  • Indiana University, BS, magna cum laude
Bar Admissions
  • Illinois
Community Involvements
  • American College of Employee Benefits Counsel
Recognitions
Recognized or listed in the following:
  • American College of Employee Benefits Counsel
    Fellow
  • AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell
  • Best Lawyers in America
    Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, 2011–2024
  • Super Lawyers
    Illinois, 2007–2018
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