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John H.Wendeln

Senior Counsel
Cincinnati

O 513.352.6739

John H.Wendeln

Senior Counsel
Cincinnati

O 513.352.6739

John is a senior counsel in the firm’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation practice group. He focuses his practice on all aspects of retirement plans.

John has substantial experience in defined benefit pension plans, having served as co-chair and co-vice chair of the ABA Pension Subcommittee, Section of Taxation, for 10 years. He also has experience in retirement plan nondiscrimination testing, business acquisitions and non-qualified deferred compensation plans (including SERPs).

John’s qualifications also include a CPA certificate and a general tax background.

Focus Areas

  • Co-author, “ERISA ‘Anti-Cutback’ Rule: Recent Appellate Court Application of Heinz and Implications for Other Plan Amendments,” BNA Tax Management Memorandum, February 2011
  • Co-author, “The Cash Balance Controversy: Fitting Square Pegs Into Round Holes,” BNA Tax Management Memorandum, December 2003
  • Co-author, “IRS Issues New Proposed Regulations Simplifying Minimum Distribution Rules,” The Banking Law Journal, March 2001
  • “Interest-Free Loans: The Court of Claims Attempts to Correct Dean – Hardee v. United States,” 8 U. Dayton L. Rev. 377, 1983
  • National panelist, “A Second Look at the Cash Balance Proposed Regulations: What Do They Really Mean?,” ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (JCEB) Teleconference Program, March 2003
  • Over 30 presentations on retirement plan and employee benefit topics to the American Bar Association (ABA), state and local bar associations, the Ohio Society of CPAs and other professional groups.
  • Burton Award for Legal Achievement in The Banking Law Journal, 2002

Professional Associations

  • American Bar Association, Section of Taxation, Employee Benefits Subcommittee
  • American Bar Association, Section of Taxation, Employee Benefits, Pension Subcommittee Former Co-Chair, Vice Chair, 2014-2023
  • Cincinnati Bar Association, Former Chair, Employee Benefits Committee, 1998 to 1999

Professional Activities

  • Ohio Society of CPAs, former chair, Member Benefits Committee, 1994 to 2002
  • Certified public accountant, Ohio (inactive)
  • Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS), instructor, 2004 to 2005

Education

  • University of Dayton School of Law, J.D., 1984,

    University of Dayton Law Review

  • University of Dayton, B.S., 1981,

    Accounting

Bar Admissions

  • Ohio