Bernard M. Baum, Of Counsel

Mr. Baum is a founding partner of the Firm. He began his career at the Firm in 1963 and became Of Counsel to the Firm in 2005. He continues actively to practice in the area of employee benefits and counsel to three of the Firm's major employee benefits clients.

In 1968, Mr. Baum and his former partner, Dan Shulman, organized the National Football League Players' Association into a labor organization and were instrumental in negotiating the first collective bargaining agreement in professional football. Mr. Baum continues to represent individual players in workers' compensation matters. In 1973, prior to the enactment of ERISA, he was requested by the House Education and Labor Committee to review the initial drafts of that legislation and to provide comments and recommendations from the perspective of trustees. He has successfully argued before the United States Supreme Court, several U.S. Courts of Appeal and numerous federal district courts.

He has lectured and written extensively on such subjects as the fiduciary obligation of trustees, the recovery of delinquent employer contributions, and a lawyer's professional responsibility to a Board of Trustees. He is a member of the Pension Section of the Labor Law Committee of the American Bar Association. As an arbitrator, he has decided issues involving multi-employer fringe benefit funds. He is a former member of the Attorneys' Committee of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and a past member of the Foundation's Education Committee. He is a frequent lecturer at Foundation seminars and a contributing author to various Foundation publications. Mr. Baum received his undergraduate degree and law degree from Northwestern University.