Steven R. Gerlach

Here’s why you’ll enjoy working with him.

Steve is a tax attorney who specializes in employee benefits, executive compensation, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). He works with employers of all stripes—including health care entities, businesses, nonprofits, municipalities, and individuals—on ERISA requirements and liabilities, Maine Public Employees Retirement System (MEPERS) compliance and controversies, as well as the tax and ERISA implications of mergers and acquisitions.  In addition, Steve represents employee benefits brokers, employee-owned companies (i.e., “ESOPs”), multiple employer welfare arrangements (“MEWAs”) – as well as other large insured and self-insured health plans.

Before becoming a lawyer, Steve worked a number of different jobs, which gives him firsthand insight into a range of industries and helps him think more broadly about clients’ issues. Whether he’s focusing on compensation work, Affordable Care Act compliance, employer-sponsored savings vehicles, or anything else, Steve is thoughtful, perceptive, and determined to find business-savvy solutions.

But that’s not all. Steve is also very knowledgeable about:

• The effects of ongoing changes in health plan regulation, employee benefits, and the bottom line
• Counseling employers on flexible benefit plans, deferred compensation arrangements, split-dollar arrangements, health and life insurance plans, and stock-related compensation arrangements
• Advising employee benefits brokers on compliance issues affecting their businesses and their clients

In his former life, Steve was:

• A financial planner with American Express
• A research coordinator for the Anesthesia Department at Maine Medical Center
• Manager of a chain restaurant

When Steve isn’t working, he is…

Singing classical counterpoint with the Portland-based group Renaissance Voices.