Mary Beth Braitman

Mary Beth Braitman, who passed away in 2024 at age 74, was well-known for her expertise in public sector employee benefits and was active in leadership of many employee benefits groups, including as a founding member of the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys (“NAPPA”). Mary Beth was inducted into the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel (the “College”) in 2006.

Mary Beth (nee Haag) received a Bachelor of Science Degree in business management from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1971. After graduating, she worked at Lazarus Department Stores in Columbus, OH and Indianapolis and as an auditor for the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) in the Employee Plans/Exempt Organizations Division working on qualification and tax issues involving retirement plans. In 1974, Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) which would become a focus for her. Her employee benefit plan work caused her to seek a career as a lawyer working more directly with employers to help design and maintain benefit plans. Working during the day while attending law school five nights a week, she earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis in 1981.

Mary Beth joined Ice Miller LLP in 1981 and became Co-Chair of the Ice Miller Employee Benefits Group. During her career, she worked with governmental retirement and health systems on federal tax questions, compliance with federal law, fiduciary issues, and plan design innovations. Her clients included various governmental retirement systems in 30 states, including Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington. She worked extensively in pension and employment tax issues of state and local governments, Social Security coverage issues, and tax-sheltered annuity programs in the kindergarten – grade 12 and university sectors. Her law partner and College Fellow Terry Mumford remembered her as a trailblazer. Terry noted that Mary Beth had challenged the conventional wisdom which had been that, because governmental plans were exempt from much of ERISA, they didn’t need to worry about federal law compliance. Mary Beth encouraged governmental plans to seek determination letters and private letter rulings to clarify application of provisions specific to state or local government entities, such as employee contributions that could be “picked-up” and treated as tax-exempt employer contributions under Internal Revenue Code section 414(h)(2). Mary Beth’s leadership helped assure the plans’ compliance with federal law and protect the plan members.

Active in many organizations, she was a member of the Advisory Board of the National Council on Teacher Retirement (“NCTR”), the Executive Board of NAPPA, and the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (“NAGDCA”), among others. She served as a member of the initial Advisory Committee for IRS Tax Exempt/Governmental Entities (appointed for a four-year term of July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2005). She also worked on preparing and submitting public comments on a number of retirement plan regulations.

She was a prolific speaker and writer, including the American Law Institute-American Bar Association courses on benefit plans for employees of tax-exempt and government entities. College Fellow Lou Mazawey knew Mary Beth quite well from their many years of work together on the long-running program. Lou recalled that Mary Beth was always extremely knowledgeable and wonderful to work with. “She was one of a select group of experts in this space, and I could always call on her!”

Mary Beth’s public service extended beyond benefits and included serving on the Board of Directors for the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis which showcased native American and Western art.

Mary Beth had many career highlights, but perhaps was most proud of the role she played in founding NAPPA – creating a unique source of information for public pension attorneys from around the country. A brilliant, hard-working, gracious, and collaborative person, Mary Beth was highly-regarded. She inspired those around her with her expertise and insight delivered with warmth, gentle wit, and compassion.

Photo Source: The Decade Book, American College of Employee Benefits Counsel 2000-2010