George Chimento is a tax and labor lawyer in the Employment Law and Estate Planning Groups. His practice focuses on employee benefits, compensation, and personal planning for senior executives and business owners. George represents clients in a variety of industries, ranging from higher education, hospital, physician care, legal services, and banking to commercial fishing, uniform services, building supplies, and the gaming industry. His clients include public and private companies, tax-exempt organizations, government instrumentalities, multiemployer boards of trustees, law firms, mutual and federal credit union banks, investment advisors, and insurance and benefits brokers.

George helps employers and fiduciaries to comply with a complex regulatory system, administered by many agencies of federal and state government. He also testifies and submits comments to government agencies, encouraging them to eliminate unnecessary burdens on employers.

For his clients and other organizations, George conducts periodic educational seminars for human resources officers on various topics that are necessary for compliance with federal and Massachusetts rules. These seminars are a cost-effective way for employers to train their HR Generalists on important issues. George also writes frequently about subjects in the field, and keeps clients posted on relevant developments.

George has practiced with major law and actuarial firms in Boston since 1982 and was previously Special Counsel to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation in Washington, DC.

• Designs ESOPS and other benefit plans, including self-insured health arrangements, cafeteria plans (including Massachusetts 125 plans), 401(k) and defined benefit plans, and 409A SERPs and other executive compensation arrangements.
• Represents fiduciaries of ERISA plans and governmental plans, and helps them to develop processes for the selection of plan investments, including non-traded investments limited to accredited investors.
• Represents companies and fiduciaries throughout benefit plan audits, and obtains remedial relief through IRS and Department of Labor procedures when necessary.
• Obtains exemptions from the Department of Labor so that benefit plans and IRAs may engage in related party transactions that would otherwise be prohibited.
• Represents plan sponsors in disputes related to benefit claims, and represents participants in cases which he considers to have special merit.