BALDWIN LAW GROUP - Key Persons
Experience
John Baldwin has a substantial estate and trust practice, helping clients to preserve, plan, and implement the transfer of personal wealth, while minimizing tax consequences. He represents estates throughout the entire administration process, and serves as trustee of many substantial trusts.
John also has many years of experience in employee benefit matters, including representation of employers and institutions in the design, implementation, and operation of qualified and non-qualified retirement plans (457 and 409A) and welfare benefit plans. In addition, he represents qualified retirement plans and plan sponsors in audit proceedings with the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Labor.
For a select group of high net worth individuals, he also provides tax planning, specifically for the receipt of benefits from qualified retirement plans.
John Baldwin spent 17 years as managing partner/chairman of a large firm based in Baltimore and has represented employee benefit plans and plan sponsors since the enactment of ERISA in 1974. He also has over 40 years of experience with estate and trust matters, and served as sole personal representative of an estate with diverse assets exceeding $115 million. He has been AV rated* for over 30 years, and serves as trustee of numerous substantial trusts.
Experience
Focusing on employee benefit matters and executive compensation for both taxable and tax-exempt employers, Marika Ostendorf designs and implements qualified retirement plans, welfare benefit plans, nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements under IRC § 409A and § 457 and flexible benefit plans.
Marika represents various employers in employee benefit matters, including small, privately-held corporations, tax exempt employers (including hospitals and governmental entities) and Fortune 500 companies. She assists employers in maintaining their existing benefit plans, periodically evaluating them to ensure that the requirements of the IRC, ERISA and the PBGC are met, and, where necessary, redesigning them to accomplish specific objectives. Marika has represented employers involved with benefit plan audits by the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor, or who wish to pursue the voluntary compliance resolution program for certain plan defects. She also represents executive-level employees in structuring and properly documenting compensation packages.
Vonda Reed has wide-ranging experience assisting attorneys and judges.
Her background includes several years as the Administrative Assistant to the Honorable Robert M. Bell, Chief Judge for the Maryland Court of Appeals. She had previously served as Administrative Assistant to the Honorable John R. Hargrove, Sr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Vonda has also worked in the Baltimore office of a large international law firm.