TAMPA, FL – The law firm of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP, is pleased to announce that Tampa partner M. John Burgess has been named to the Employee Benefits Conference Committee for the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA). The committee is responsible for planning, directing, and administering the employee benefit plan topics and speakers for the FICPA’s Employee Benefits Conference in June, 2019.

John assists clients with all types of employee benefit plans, including tax-qualified pension plans; employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), health and welfare plans, and executive compensation arrangements.  He counsels clients on plan documentation (including drafting plan documents, SPDs, amendments, and plan administrative procedures), plan qualification (including representing clients before the Internal Revenue Service), and other benefit plan issues, including tax and fiduciary matters.  In addition, he regularly advises clients on benefits issues in the context of business mergers and acquisitions, including assistance with due diligence on benefit plans sponsored by an acquired company.

John is also a certified public accountant with an extensive tax and accounting background, which includes experience as an auditor with a large accounting firm.  He is well versed in individual, corporate, partnership and estate and gift taxation issues at both the federal and state levels and uses that knowledge to assist clients in tax planning and compliance issues, including matters for international employees and non-profit organizations.

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Founded in 1925, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP is a full-service business law firm with more than 265 attorneys in Toledo and Columbus, Ohio; Tampa and Sarasota, Florida; Charleston, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina and Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.  Shumaker is a premier provider of quality legal services.  Whether it's commitment to clients or work in the community, involvement lies at the core of all of Shumaker’s initiatives.