George L. Whitfield

George L. Whitfield, who died in 2017 at the age of 79, was a noted employee benefits attorney and a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel (“ACEBC”), having been inducted into the College in 2011.

George graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN with a B.A. in 1960. He was a 1963 graduate of the Vanderbilt School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif.

He practiced law at the Grand Rapids, Michigan law firm of Warner, Norcross and Judd for 52 years, where he served as the founding and long-term chair of that firm’s Employee Benefits Practice Group. He also served as an Adjunct Professor at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI.

Gregarious and kind, George dedicated his career to bringing others along, and making concerted efforts in assisting young attorneys as they sought to develop their employee benefit expertise. His firm colleagues remarked on the many instances of him welcoming those with the least power in a situation, whether it was the participants and beneficiaries protected by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), or the newest attendee at a Tax Exempt/Government Entities (“TE/GE”), American Bar Association (“ABA”), or other meeting.

Central to his practice was his focus on the employee benefits community, where he built strong relationships between employee benefit professionals and representatives of both the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and the Department of Labor (“DOL”). This included his work with the IRS Great Lakes Area TE/GE in a 2001 project to improve IRS examination procedures for qualified plans, culminating in the approval of the proposal by Director, Employee Plans Examinations. He then helped pilot many of those recommendations in the Great Lakes Area and became a key participant in the national project to develop updated audit guidelines. His work contributed to the development of a new IRS publication (Publication 1-EP "Understanding the Employee Plans Examination Process") and, later, the "EP Examination Process Guide," an extensive resource for taxpayers, practitioners and IRS auditing agents.

George continued these relationship-building activities as a key driver in establishing the TE/GE Area Councils, designed to strengthen connections between the professional community and the IRS. These Area Councils, and the resulting National Council, reflected his belief in importance of maintaining “the conversations” between regulators and professionals.

Though George received both regional and national commendations and recognitions for these efforts, his humble approach to his fellow practitioners, and to IRS and DOL personnel at all levels turned what might have been purely professional relationships into lifelong friendships. College Fellow Robert Toth noted that George’s passion, dedication, and sense of fairness fostered this rare outcome and reflected his style of practice. He was widely viewed as a problem-solver rather than an adversary. He was also remembered for hosting large dinners at annual TE/GE conferences, where regulators and professionals further strengthened relationships.

In recognition of these career long efforts, George was awarded the TE/GE Division Commissioner's Award, "In Recognition and Appreciation of Your Dedication and Outstanding Personal Contribution to Accomplishing The Goals and Mission of the Tax Exempt & Government Entities Division and the Internal Revenue Service.”

George was a long-time member of the ABA Taxation Section Committee on Employee Benefits and the ABA Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section, where he chaired several committees and subcommittees and was frequent lecturer on employee benefit issues in a wide range of forums.

Music was an important part of this gentle man’s life, and he further endeared himself to many through his great love of bluegrass.

He quietly mentored generations of employee benefit lawyers in Michigan and the Midwest. He was viewed by many as being in that rare class of “attorney of attorneys,” with his intelligence, experience, and sound judgement being sought by attorneys and regulators alike.


Photo Source: O’Brien-Eggeeben-Gerst Funeral Home website, George Lee Whitfield obituary. https://gerstfuneralhomes.com/obituary/george-lee-whitfield/