Paul M. Newcomer

Paul Newcomer has represented multiemployer (Taft-Hartley) plans and counseled plan trustees with respect to their fiduciary duties for 30+ years.

Paul’s expertise encompasses all aspects of employee benefits, from designing and establishing innovative plans (such as variable annuity and “cap and shore” hybrid designs) to advising plan fiduciaries and litigating complex benefit, fiduciary breach, withdrawal liability and collection claims.

On behalf of clients, Paul has successfully pursued withdrawal liability claims in arbitration and the federal trial and appellate courts across the country, including having done so on appointment to orphaned or terminated plans trusteed by the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation. Paul frequently provides advice on application of the Internal Revenue regulations on controlled groups of trades or business, particularly in application to corporate transactions (asset and stock sales, mergers and acquisitions).

Along with his general expertise in the employee benefits arena, Paul has developed a specialized knowledge in working with distressed defined benefit plans. Over the past several years, he has worked on five applications filed on behalf of clients to the U.S. Department of Treasury for approval of benefit suspensions as well as for partition under The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA) to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation.  

Paul has also litigated a substantial number of complex withdrawal liability matters throughout the United States on behalf of multiemployer (Taft-Hartley) defined benefit plans. Many of these matters required the unraveling of intricate webs of corporate structures designed to avoid liability. His aggressive and thorough approach to these matters has been a great asset to clients over the years.

Professional Affiliations

Member, International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP)

National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans

State Bar of Michigan, Taxation Section

Experience

• PBGC v. Palmen Motors, et al., 98-C-0126 (E.D. Wisc., 2010). Appointed as plan counsel by PBGC-appointed trustee as to orphaned plan; gather assets, retain specialized professionals (actuaries, accountants), determine benefits and negotiate terminating annuity purchases and PBGC assistance. 
• State of Alabama v. Governor Engler, 85 F.3d 1205 (1996). Briefed and argued successful appeal to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on interpretation of full faith and credit clause of U.S. Constitution with respect to interstate of extradition.
• Numerous arbitration proceedings and civil actions on the assessment and collection of employer withdrawal liability to multiemployer plans under the Multiemployer Pension Plans Amendments Act of 1980.
• Application to the Department of Treasury and the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation for implementation of plan amendments and for partition of underfunded plans under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014.
• Speaker: Mechanical Contractors Association of Northwest Ohio, February 2017; Topic: Primer on Trustee Fiduciary Duties

He is a former Judicial Law Clerk to The Hon. Charles W. Joiner, Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.