Trucker Huss, APC is pleased to announce that Mia Butzbaugh and Joelle Tavan, two experienced benefits attorneys in Portland, Oregon, have joined the firm as of January 1, 2022. Immediately prior to joining the firm, Mia was a partner and head of the employee benefits group at Miller Nash LLP in Portland, while Joelle served as counsel at the firm.
“We are excited to welcome Mia and Joelle to the firm and open Trucker Huss’s office in Portland,” said Bob Schwartz, Director and President of Trucker Huss. “They have established a great reputation and are among the top benefits lawyers in the Pacific Northwest. Mia will give our multiemployer plan practice a real boost, while Joelle will be a great addition to our qualified retirement plan team. We are thrilled to have them both.”
Mia Butzbaugh has more than 15 years of experience in employee benefits law and specializes in representing multiemployer pension and health and welfare plans. Mia has served as general counsel to many types of multiemployer plans, from large pension plans with alternative investments to small vacation plans, from plans terminated by mass withdrawal to those launching variable annuity programs. With this experience, she can readily assist trustees with issues that are common to collectively bargained plans and to identify and help solve problems that may be unique to a given plan.
Joelle Tavan has over 13 years of experience advising employers on all aspects of the design, operation, and compliance of their qualified retirement plans (including defined benefit plans and 401(k), profit sharing, ESOPs, and money purchase pension plans). She prepares plan documents and summary plan descriptions and advises plan sponsors and fiduciaries on how to address and resolve compliance issues, corrections under Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System and the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program, and fiduciary best practices. She also represents clients before the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor in plan audits and investigations.
