Speaker

David Gagnon, CPA, RFC, CFS, CEA,, CEA, specializes in Captive Insurance Companies for small business owners. 'Captives' are a highly specialized tool that can help business owners with their tax burdens. They can also become a part of an overall transition of an owner's wealth from one generation to the next. Although Captive Insurance Companies have been around for over 100 years, they have only recently been available to small business owners in the last few decades.

David's presentation will go into detail as to how business owners can take advantage of this tax law while benefiting both their company and their personal ability to exit their businesses.

David has been advising individuals and business owners for the past 26 years in areas of tax, retirement, wealth management, investment & estate planning, long term care, life insurance and multi-generational planning.

His retirement planning seminars have been widely attended by retirees of IBM, Bristol-Meyers, Pfizer, Unilever, New Haven Regional Water Authority, SBC, Sikorsky, United Technologies, and the Federal Government. David has written articles for the American Chiropractor publication, been featured on TV channel 8 WTNH, and a guest speaker for radio programs in Lafayette, Indiana and Naples, Florida. Former host of “Your Undiscovered Wealth” radio program on WICC 600 AM.

Chapter Leader

Sheila Kles, is Special ESOP & Tax Counsel to Boylan Brown. She has a wealth of experience in tax-related matters, particularly tax-exempt financing. She has served as bond counsel, underwriter's counsel, special disclosure counsel and tax counsel on various transactions, including general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, tax and revenue anticipation notes, commercial paper, 501(c)(3) bonds for hospitals, schools and other 501(c)(3) entities, pooled bond programs, single and multi-family housing bonds, and bonds issued to finance improvements for water facilities and airports. She has also performed due diligence and restructured contracts for compliance with Treasury regulations and revenue rulings, and has structured multi-modal transactions, transactions that utilized various derivatives including swaps, guaranteed investment contracts and repurchase agreements. Ms. Kles has also performed state and local tax analysis for various states, with a primary focus on Pennsylvania, New York and Puerto Rico.

Before joining Boylan Brown, Ms. Kles was a tax attorney at the firm of Ballard Spahr LLP in Philadelphia, PA. Prior to that, she was an attorney at the New York City firms of Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, Alexander & Ferdon, (tax associate) and Brown & Wood, LLP (tax associate). She has concentrated her practice in tax-exempt financing and other tax matters for over ten years. Ms. Kles is a member of the New York, Pennsylvania and District of Columbia Bar Associations, as well as the American Bar Association and the National Association of Bond Lawyers.

Chapter Leader

Mark R. Kossow, is a partner at Boylan Brown, focusing his practice on ESOPs and taxation. He specializes in representing corporations, trustees and selling shareholders in leveraged transactions involving employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). He utilizes his expertise in ERISA and tax law in order to effectively represent clients in ESOP deals, and also represents clients in both corporate transactional and employee benefit matters. Mark has significant additional experience with 401(k) plans, tax controversy and tax planning matters. Prior to joining Boylan Brown, Mark was a tax associate at the firms of Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione (Newark, NJ) and Fox Rothschild (Princeton, NJ), then was a partner at Steiker, Fischer, Edwards & Greenapple, P.C. (Philadelphia, PA). He is a graduate of New York University School of Law (LL.M – taxation), Albany Law School of Union University, and the University of Michigan. He is a contributing author to New Jersey Limited Liability Company Forms and Practice Manual (Data Trace Legal Publishers, updated through 2003), and the author of New Treasury Regs Expand Public Access To Tax Exempt Organization Information, (The Garden State Focus, August 1999). Mark is a frequent lecturer on topics relating to ESOPs, ERISA, and tax matters.