Mascarello, Michael L.

Mr. Martin is a recognized national authority in the fields of business law, taxation, health care, and retirement plans.  He serves as general counsel for over 300 privately owned businesses.  Mr. Martin has represented numerous purchasers and sellers of businesses in negotiating, structuring and closing numerous transactions, including management investors involved in taking companies private; the sale of stock, assets, mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs and split-ups; and multiple joint ventures, creation and representation of ambulatory surgery centers, specialty hospitals, and other health care entities.

Mr. Martin works extensively with over 400 retirement plans, including plan design, legal compliance and drafting of all types of retirement plan documents, including defined benefit, money purchase, cash balance, 401(K), profit sharing and ESOPs, as well as cafeteria plans, health plans, stock option programs, phantom stock and other incentive programs.  Mr. Martin was asked to be the plaintiffs' co-counsel by the Houston, Texas, firm of Susman & Godfrey involving the establishment and operation of Burlington Industries' ESOP.  The defendants paid the plaintiffs $27.5 million in 1996, the largest settlement/verdict to that date in any ESOP case.

Mr. Martin has been for many years Co-Chair and speaker at the Annual Advanced Course of Study Professional Service Organizations, a faculty member for the ALI-ABA Courses Estate Planning for the Family Business Owner and Sophisticated Estate Planning Techniques as well as speaker at the national meeting of the American Bar Association Tax Section, the ESOP Association Annual Convention, Mountain States Pension Conference, Southern Federal Tax Conference, Notre Dame Estate Planning Symposium and the Ohio Pension Conference, as well as the Alabama, Georgia Federal, Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee Tax conferences.

Mr. Martin is president and a director of the Small Business Council of America, a national tax and employee benefits lobbying group.  He also has testified in Congress regarding federal tax legislation.  He was a delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Small Business and 2006 Savers' Summit, Washington, D.C.

Additionally, Mr. Martin is author of the book Limited Liability Companies and Partnerships (1996) and co-author of the book Kansas Corporation Law & Practice (Including Tax Aspects) 3d ed, (1992).  He is also Technical Editor of The 401(k) Advisor (since 1995).  In addition, he has written many articles in various publications, including the Journal of Taxation, Journal Taxation of Employee Benefits, Tax Management's Compensation Planning Journal, The Practical Accountant Magazine, University of Kansas Law Review, Journal of Pension Planning, Journal of the Kansas Bar Association and ALI-ABA Course Materials Journal.

Mr. Martin was co-author of the original Kansas Limited Liability Company Act (third enacted in U.S.) and author (Kansas, second enacted in U.S.) and co-author (Missouri) of the IRA/Qualified Plan shield statutes.  He was a Trustee, Johnson County Community College (1977-1981), and adjunct professor of Tax Law at Kansas University (1977-1979) and UMKC Law Schools (1976-1979).

Mr. Martin was a Lieutenant, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy (1972-1975).