Tucker Ellis LLP Retirement Savings Plan

Tucker Ellis LLP Retirement Savings Plan

The Tucker Ellis LLP Retirement Savings Plan was established in 2003 alongside the law firm it serves, a national litigation and business-focused practice headquartered in Cleveland. Joseph J. Morford, the firm's managing partner from 2010 through 2025, presided over the plan for the majority of its existence. Incoming managing partner James W. Mizgala, who assumed the role January 1, 2026, now inherits fiduciary oversight alongside a partnership that includes ERISA specialist Scott Joseph Stitt, signaling in-house attention to the plan's regulatory integrity. The plan's investment structure reflects a defined contribution design, deploying participant assets across several asset classes. Reported holdings include registered investment companies, common and collective trusts, corporate debt instruments, and U.S. government securities. The mix suggests a core-satellite approach built on mutual funds and collective trusts, complemented by direct fixed-income exposure to government and corporate issuers. No direct real estate, private equity, or infrastructure allocations have been publicly identified. The geographic focus mirrors the firm's own presence, centered in the U.S. with offices in Cleveland and Chicago. With an estimated $118 million in assets, the plan remains modest relative to large corporate plans but meaningful for a law firm of Tucker Ellis's scale. The firm maintains professional affiliations with the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and the Defense Research Institute, though no evidence suggests these networks directly influence the plan's manager selection or investment committee process. January 2024: James W. Mizgala was named incoming managing partner effective January 1, 2026, signaling a planned leadership transition that includes oversight of the firm's retirement plan. The plan's most notable structural feature is its status as a law firm retirement plan — a narrow category where participants are legal professionals and administrative staff rather than industrial or manufacturing workforces. This produces a participant base with higher average compensation and longer vesting horizons, which in turn shapes the plan's liquidity needs and fund menu design. The plan's conservative, fund-of-funds posture contrasts with the direct-investment model seen at some large corporate plan sponsors, reflecting both scale constraints and fiduciary caution.