Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Mike Blais advises employers on all aspects of their employee benefit programs and frequently assists attorneys in the Firm's corporate practices with benefits aspects of merger and acquisition transactions. His practice includes counseling public and private employers, including tax-exempt organizations and church plan sponsors, with an emphasis on matters arising under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. In addition to broad-based employee benefit plans, he has extensive experience with nonqualified deferred compensation plans and executive and equity compensation programs.

Mike is also an enrolled actuary (retired status) under ERISA and an associate of the Society of Actuaries. Prior to joining Jones Day, he was a consulting actuary with a major international consulting firm for 11 years.

Representative clients in recent matters include Albertsons (in its acquisition of New Bristol Farms), Bon Secours Health System, J.C. Penney Company (in the sale of its Eckerd drugstore business to The Jean Coutu Group and CVS Corporation for $4.525 billion), Wasserstein & Co. (in its acquisition of New York Magazine), Belo Corp., Michaels Stores, Quicksilver Resources, and Arctic Glacier.

Mike is a member of the State Bar of Texas and the Dallas Bar Association (Employee Benefits/Executive Compensation Section).

Areas of Practice

• Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
• Compensation & Benefits Counseling for Employers
• ESOPs & Other Stock-Based Plans
• Tax-Exempt Entities & Church Plans
• Energy

Representative Cases

• Acquisition by Cogent Communications
• Acquisition by On Assignment
• Acquisition by Toreador Resources
• Acquisition of A.T. Reynolds and Sons, Inc.
• Acquisition of Acid Services, LLC
• Acquisition of Bismack Huron Ice, Inc.
• Acquisition of California Ice
• Acquisition of Edgington Oil Company
• Acquisition of Good Times Store
• Acquisition of International Ice Incorporated
• Acquisition of Kar Ice
• Acquisition of Knowlton Distributors, L.L.C.
• Acquisition of Knowlton Enterprises, Inc.
• Acquisition of Koldkist
• Acquisition of Losquadro Ice Company, Inc., Huntington Ice & Cube Corp., Cubex, Inc., Losquadro Fuel Corp. and L&P Realty, L.L.C.
• Acquisition of Michigan Pure Ice, L.L.C.
• Acquisition of New Bristol Farms, Inc.
• Acquisition of Northern Pure Ice Co., L.L.C.
• Acquisition of Paramount Petroleum
• Acquisition of R&K Trucking, Inc.
• Acquisition of Southeastern Michigan Ice Services, L.L.C.
• Acquisition of Springdale Ice Company and Diamond Ice Cube Company, Inc.
• Acquisition of Taylor Ice Service, Inc.
• Acquisition of Thomas Ice Cube
• Acquisition of Tropic Ice Partners
• Acquisition of Weisman Discount Home Centers
• Acquisition of Winkler Lucas Ice and Fuel d.b.a. Mid-Michigan Ice Co., Inc.
• Acquisition of Wonderland Ice, Inc.
• Benefits
• Buyout
• Buyout
• Buyout
• Buyout
• Employer's Counsel
• Employer's Counsel
• Employer's Counsel
• Employer's Counsel
• Issuance of Shares by Teavana Corporation
• Qualified and Nonqualified Retirement Benefits
• Sale of Eckerd
• Sale of JetStar Consolidated Holdings

West Practice Categories

Affirmative Action -- Employee, Americans with Disabilities Act -- Employee, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) -- Employee, Employee Rights -- Employee, Employment Contracts -- Employee, Employment Discrimination -- Employee, Employment Law -- Employee, Employment Law -- Employer, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) -- Employee, Federal Employer,'s Liability Act (FELA) -- Employee, Municipal Employment -- Employee, Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA) -- Employee, Pensions, Benefits & Compensations -- Employee, Pensions, Benefits & Compensations -- Employer, Sexual Harassment -- Employee, Wage & Hour Laws -- Employee, Whistleblower -- Employee, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act -- Employee, Wrongful Termination -- Employee

Bar Admissions

• Texas

Education

• Georgetown University

Published Works

• An Impending Collision at the Intersection of Code Section 457 and Code Section 409A, 2007
• New Pension Funding and Accounting Rules Barrage Employers: Credit Agreement and SEC Disclosure Impact, 2006

Address

2727 North Harwood Street
Dallas, TX 75201-1515

Phones

1.214.969.4564 (Business Phone)

Faxes

1.214.969.5100 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

http://www.jonesday.com