BRUCE L. ASHTON Email: BruceAshton@Reish.com Bruce Ashton is a partner of the law firm of Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen, specializing in employee benefits. Areas of Practice Employee Benefits ESOP Professional Experience In his more than 35 years of practice, Bruce has gained wide experience representing businesses in sophisticated business transactions, employee benefits matters, and employment law issues. His practice today focuses on all aspects of employee benefits issues, including representing public and private sector plans and their sponsors, negotiating the resolution of plan qualification issues under EP Division remedial correction programs, advising and defending fiduciaries on their obligations and liabilities, and structuring qualified plans, non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements and health care arrangements. Combining his employee benefits and transactional expertise, Bruce is also active in the installation and funding of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). Bruce served as President of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) for the 2003-2004 term. From 1998 through 2002, he served as the co-chair of ASPPA’s Government Affairs Committee and has been a member of its board of directors since 1997. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Actuaries during 2003-2004. He is currently president-elect of the Western Pension & Benefits Conference Los Angeles Chapter. Bruce has been recognized as one of “The Best Lawyers in America” and as a “Super Lawyer” in Southern California and is listed in the California edition of Who’s Who Legal. Publications and Presentations Along with his partner, Fred Reish, Bruce is co-author of the Participant Directed Investments Answer Book, Third Edition, and the Plan Correction Answer Book, both published by Aspen Publishers. He is also co-author of Actuarial Audits: A Legal and Tactical Analysis, published by ASPPA. Bruce has co-authored a quarterly column in the Journal of Pension Benefits on IRS remedial programs, and is a frequent contributor to various tax and pension publications, including the Journal of Taxation, CCH Pension Plan Guide, Journal of Pension Benefits, and The ASPPA Journal. Bruce is a frequent speaker on employee benefits issues ranging from fiduciary responsibility to ESOPs. He is a regularly featured speaker at conferences of ASPPA, the Western Pension & Benefits Conference and various other organizations. Education Bruce received his B.A. degree from Rice University in 1967 and his J.D. from Southern Methodist University in 1970, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif, Phi Alpha Delta, and a Roy R. Ray Scholar. He was a recipient of the Johnson, Bromberg, Leeds & Riggs Award, and the Arthur Stedley Hansen Consulting Actuaries of Dallas Award. He was a member (1968-1970), Note and Comment Editor (1969-1970), and Acting Index Editor (1970) of the Journal of Air Law & Commerce. Bruce was admitted to the California Bar in 1971.