Media Mentions
2007
Steven S. Scholes was quoted in the November/December issue of Corporate Board Member regarding updates on directors' and officers' insurance. Mr. Scholes discussed how although there is no rule to how much D&O coverage a company should carry, many organizations are underinsured. Mr. Scholes stated that your company should ask, "how it decided what limits to purchase and what the typical settlement values are for comparable-size companies in the same industry."
Steven S. Scholes, Insurance, Trial
Margaret Warner was profiled in "Sources Revealed: Trying Cases" published in the September 21 issue of the Washington Business Journal.
Margaret H. Warner, Insurance, Trial
Chip Kerby was quoted in the April 23 issue of Boston Business Journal in an article about how the new law to expand health insurance coverage is confusing to businesses. "As I continue to plum the depths of the law I continue to find disconnects -- things that don't make fundamental sense," said Mr. Kerby.
, Employee Benefits & Pensions, Employee Benefits - Insurance, Insurance
Nancy Gerrie was quoted in the April 2 issue of Business Insurance in an article detailing Fidelity Investments' decision to add health savings accounts to its retiree savings program. "It is applying a defined contribution approach to retiree medical benefits. It is a way of controlling your costs and knowing what to expect in terms of expense," Ms. Gerrie said.
Nancy S. Gerrie, Employee Benefits & Pensions, Employee Benefits - Insurance, Insurance
Tom Jones was quoted in the March 12 issue of Business Insurance in an article detailing the recent legislative activity on captive insurance laws around the globe. "Most of the domiciles are tweaking their statues, rather than changing them," Mr. Jones said.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Insurance, Insurance Companies and Products Tax, Tax
Nancy G. Ross was quoted in the February 5 issue of Business Insurance in an article regarding two recent appellate decisions in the Third and Seventh circuits finding that cash balance pension plans are not discriminatory towards older employees. Nancy commented on the effects of these decisions on other appellate courts and the difficulty that plaintiffs’ lawyers will face when trying to convince other courts that such plans are age discriminatory. "These appear to be airtight decisions, and those are the ones that will prevail at the end of the day," she said.
Nancy G. Ross, Employee Benefits - Insurance, Employee Benefits Litigation, Insurance, Trial
Nancy G. Ross was quoted in the February 5 issue of Business Insurance in an article on recent rulings by the 3rd and 7th Circuit Courts of Appeals that cash balance plans do not discriminate against older workers. Legal experts believe that other appeals courts will follow suit. Said Ms. Ross, "These appear to be airtight decisions, and those are the ones that will prevail at the end of the day."
Nancy G. Ross, Employee Benefits & Pensions, Employee Benefits - Insurance, Employee Benefits Litigation, Insurance
Tom Jones was quoted in the February 4 issue of the Hartford Courant in an article on the expansion of "captive" insurance companies in Connecticut. "Captives are not a 'tax dodge,' but if they meet certain IRS qualifications, they can take a tax deduction on the money the put into reserves for claims," Mr. Jones said.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Insurance, Insurance Companies and Products Tax, Tax
2006
Tom Jones was mentioned in the July 2006 edition of ABI/INFORM and Rough Notes about his suggestion leading to one of the International Center for Captive Insurance Education's newest initiatives. Mr. Jones' suggestion involved establishing an advisory counsel made up of various captive regulators.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Captive Insurance and Reinsurance, Insurance, Tax
2005
Tom Jones was quoted in the September 13 issue of Bestwire in an article about how the IRS has moved to a position of loosening its tax treatment of captive insurers, "The IRS has given up a lot of ground on captive tax issues," Mr. Jones has said.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Captive Insurance and Reinsurance, Insurance, Tax
Tom Jones was featured in a news brief in the August 29 issue of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin on being chosen by the Vermont Captive Insurance Association as the recipient of its 2005 Industry Service Award.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Captive Insurance and Reinsurance, Insurance, Tax
Tom Jones was quoted in the August 2005 issue of Captive & ART Review in an article about the hot legal issues likely to affect captives on both sides of the Atlantic. The U.S. Treasury's recent public opposition to the extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) in its current form has those risk managers and captive owners, who thought the deal was as good as sold, in a slight disarray. However, Mr. Jones thinks few captives will rest on that decision. "Few captives are totally exclusive to writing TRIA, because the government issued informal guidance saying they wouldn't allow gaming of the system. Only a handful of captives would disappear if TRIA isn't extended," Mr. Jones said.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Captive Insurance and Reinsurance, Insurance, Tax
Tom Jones was quoted in the July 14 issue of BestWire about the IRS ruling further clarifying tax treatment for captives. Mr. Jones said while the IRS ruling found that each of the four hypothetical arrangements had sufficient risk transfer for insurance states, in three of the four, "risk distribution" was lacking for federal tax purposes.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Captive Insurance and Reinsurance, Insurance, Tax
Tom Jones was quoted in the June 27 issue of Business Insurance in an article about how the IRS is asking for public comment on whether a wide variety of captive insurance funding and design arrangements are, in fact, insurance and thus entitled to favorable tax treatment. "The IRS is trying to understand captive industry innovations before they make a definitive announcement. This is a good turn of events," Mr. Jones said.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Captive Insurance and Reinsurance, Insurance, Tax
Tom Jones was quoted in the June 23 issue of BestWire about the IRS ruling hinting at outreach on thorny insurance issues. Mr. Jones said that "in practically, there are almost no entities" to which the ruling would seem to apply, either among offshore or domestic captives.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Captive Insurance and Reinsurance, Insurance, Tax
Tom Jones was quoted in the May 2005 issue of Captive & ART Review regarding his 20 years of working with the tax, legal and regulatory aspects of captive insurance companies. "Much to my surprise, I think there is a tremendous interest in captive taxation. I believe there is a healthy interest in learning what is permissible and what may not be," Mr. Jones said.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Captive Insurance and Reinsurance, Insurance, Tax
2004
Nancy Gerrie was quoted in Business Insurance on August 16 regarding a proposed plan by Whirlpool to fund retiree health care benefits utilizing its captive insurance company, a tax-free trust and commercial life insurance. "This could be a way of getting more third-party business in the captive," Ms. Gerrie commented on this unusual arrangement which has been submitted to the Labor Department for approval.
Nancy S. Gerrie, Employee Benefits & Pensions, Insurance
2003
Andrew Liazos was quoted in the November issue of CFO magazine in the article "The End of Split-Dollar Life?" Mr. Liazos commented that companies and executives that have existing split-dollar arrangements with significant cash value equity accumulation have until December 31, 2003 to restructure the plans or terminate them without paying a tax on the equity.
Andrew C. Liazos, Executive Compensation, Insurance, Split-Dollar Life Insurance
Thomas Jones was quoted in the March 24 issue of Business Insurance regarding the decrease of IRS scrutiny on captive deals. Mr. Jones commented that the IRS is now more likely to examine captives individually and they are more willing to issue a private-letter ruling on whether a captive is engaged in insurance. "….the IRS has changed its posture, and it is possible to go in for a private-letter ruling on the insurance transaction for an entity such as a captive. It is remains to be seen how often this will be used because it is relatively new."
Thomas M. Jones PC, Captive Insurance and Reinsurance, Insurance, Tax
Thomas Jones was quoted in the March 10 issue of Business Insurance regarding the increased activity of captives. "….the record pace of captive activity in 2002 will continue at least through the end of 2003," predicted Mr. Jones.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Captive Insurance and Reinsurance, Insurance, Tax
2002
Tom Jones was quoted in the March 2002 issue of Risk & Insurance regarding the use of captives to fund long-term disability. Mr. Jones commented that these captives are not common because it can take a company months, possibly years to research and analyze the costs and benefits of such a captive, even before filing it with the U.S. Department of Labor.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Insurance, Insurance Companies and Products Tax, Tax
2001
Tom Jones was quoted in the November 29 issue of Insurance Day regarding the captive insurance environment in Bermuda.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Insurance, Insurance Companies and Products Tax, Tax
Tom Jones was quoted in an article published in the November 12 issue of Business Insurance regarding Bermuda’s insurance market, and the probability that the IAC is going to continue as the market develops.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Insurance, Insurance Companies and Products Tax, Tax
Tom Jones was quoted in the June 25 issue of Business Insurance in response to a recent appeals court victory for United Parcel Service of America, Inc. Mr. Jones said the decision, which ruled a UPS package reinsurance program had legitimate business purpose and that reducing UPS’s taxes was an acceptable aim of the plan, lifted a cloud of doubt for tax lawyers and captive owners regarding tax planning and structuring.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Insurance, Tax
Tom Jones was quoted in the June 11 issue of Business Insurance in regard to the IRS’s decision to drop its long-standing position that premiums paid to captives are not deductible under the "economic family."
Thomas M. Jones PC, Insurance, Insurance Companies and Products Tax, Tax
Tom Jones was quoted in the April 2001 issue of CFO Magazine. Mr. Jones warned readers of the "uncharted waters" of rent-a-captive taxation, citing the lack of case law and IRS pronouncements on the subject.
Thomas M. Jones PC, Insurance, Insurance Companies and Products Tax, Tax
