Peter O. Shinevar

Peter O. Shinevar, who died in 2004 at age 48, was a highly regarded Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) practitioner. He was inducted as an In Memoriam Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel (the “College”) in 2004.

Peter received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan in 1977 and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1980. He also earned his Masters in Economics from University of Michigan.

He clerked for Judge Harry Edwards on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit during the 1981-82 term and then practiced employee benefits law on behalf of jointly administered plans and labor unions at the firm of Bredhoff and Kaiser, in Washington, DC.

In 1992, he moved to New Jersey, and began specializing in tax and pension benefits. He worked first at the Segal Company as Associate Director of Research, focusing on areas of public policy, legislative, and regulatory issues. College Fellow Judith Mazo hired Peter at Segal. She noted his litigator’s eye for creative approaches to clients’ thorny issues. Peter later joined the law firm of O’Melveny and Myers.

Peter was active in the Employee Benefits Committee of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the American Bar Association, speaking at several Joint Committee of Employee Benefits (“JCEB”) National Institute programs including ERISA Basics and ERISA Litigation, and contributing to the Employee Benefits Committee’s treatise on ERISA. College Fellow James Singer recalled that Peter stood out for his intelligence and charm.

During the last year of his life, he realized many lifelong dreams: hiking the Grand Canyon; attending the All-Star game in Chicago; and watching his alma mater Michigan play in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Peter left his mark as an active and engaging contributor in the employee benefits bar.

Photo Source: The Decade Book, American College of Employee Benefits Counsel 2000-2010