George Cicotte

George F. Cicotte founded The Cicotte Law Firm in 2002. Mr. Cicotte's entire career has focused on employee benefits, beginning in 1989 as a pension actuary and, since 1995, as an ERISA attorney. He serves clients throughout the U.S., with a preponderance in the western and southwestern states. Before establishing The Cicotte Law Firm, Mr. Cicotte practiced law in Washington, D.C. with Covington & Burling, consistently ranked as one of the most selective law firms in the nation.

Mr. Cicotte's broad employee benefits practice involves such diverse issues as health and retirement plan design, representing employers in labor relations matters, federal taxation, assisting health plans with HIPAA, COBRA and all other requirements and advising on a myriad of employment and fiduciary responsibility issues. In addition to counseling with clients on compliance and transactional matters the Firm frequently defends ERISA lawsuits.

Mr. Cicotte has spoken throughout the country for groups such as the Western Pension and Benefits Conference, The Institute for Applied Management and Law, The Society for Human Resource Management, Deloitte & Touche Consulting, Lorman Education Services, The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, The National Employer Conference and The Zero Alpha Group. He has authored and co-written several articles and publications including the employee benefits chapter of The Contingent Workforce - Business and Legal strategies, published by Law Journal Press.

Mr. Cicotte is rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell, the premier attorney rating service. This video describes what this rating means. The AV designation indicates that Mr. Cicotte has been recognized by other attorneys and judges as having achieved the highest standards of legal ability and ethical conduct.

Bar Memberships

• Washington 2002
• United States Supreme Court 2001
• District of Columbia 1999
• Colorado 1996
• U.S. Court of Appeals, 10th Cir. 1998
• E.D. Washington 2003

Practice Areas

• Employee benefits advice and litigation
• ERISA and benefits-related tax, corporate and employment law

Education

• Brigham Young University — Juris Doctor, Cum Laude, 1995
• University of Pennsylvania — Bachelor of Arts with Distinction, 1989

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Christine M. Zinter

Ms. Zinter is an associate with The Cicotte Law Firm. Christine graduated with honors from St. Louis University's nationally-recognized Health Law Program in 2015, then spent several years as a compliance attorney for Centene's pharmacy benefit management company, Envolve Pharmacy Solutions. A Portland native, Ms. Zinter is happy to return to the Pacific NW, bringing with her a wealth of knowledge and experience with employee benefit plan rules and regulations including ERISA, the ACA, state insurance laws and mandates, and the multiple other Federal and state laws that regulate employee benefit plans.

Christine has spent her entire career working in employee benefits. Prior to starting her second career in law, Christine spent 20 years as a Health & Welfare Consultant, first for national firms MetLife and Aon Consulting, then as Lead Consultant at her own successful boutique consulting firm.

In addition to her JD, Ms. Zinter holds a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) designation from the Wharton School, is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), and the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA). She received her MBA from the University of Washington in 1991.

Christine is admitted to practice law in Oregon and Washington.

Bar Memberships

• Washington 2019
• Oregon 2015

Practice Areas

• ERISA welfare plan design and compliance
• HIPAA privacy and security obligations
• Federal healthcare program (Medicare/Medicaid) compliance
• Labor and Employment Law

Education

• St. Louis University School of Law — Juris Doctor, Cum Laude, Certificate in Health Law Studies, 2015
• University of Washington Michael G. Foster School of Business — MBA, 1991
• University of Portland — Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude, History and Japanese Studies

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Treaver Hodson

Mr. Hodson represents management before federal and state courts and administrative agencies in all aspects of employment law litigation. His representation has included such areas of expertise as wrongful termination, unlawful discrimination and harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, workplace violence, leaves of absence, unfair competition and misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract and defamation.

Mr. Hodson also represents management in all aspects of labor law before the National Labor Relations Board and similar state agencies including representation elections, unfair labor practice charges and hearings, collective bargaining negotiations, contract arbitrations and picketing and strikes.

Mr. Hodson's practice includes advising management in all areas of employment and labor law, including employee training, discipline and termination decisions, employment policies and procedures, employment, arbitration and trade secret agreements, required leaves of absence, employee benefit issues, prevention of union organizing, wage and hour issues, and various other employment related state and federal statutes. His expertise also includes effective use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms including formal and informal arbitration and mediation.

Mr. Hodson is a member of the Labor and Employment Law Sections of state and county bar associations. Mr. Hodson has contributed articles dealing with wage and hour issues to a bi-weekly Employment Law Monitor and has published a law review comment regarding application of federal discrimination laws to religious entities.

Bar Memberships

• Utah 1995
• California 1996
• Not admitted in Washington

Practice Areas

• Employee Law Litigation
• Labor Law

Education

• Brigham Young University — Juris Doctor, Cum Laude, 1995
• Brigham Young University, Bachelor of Arts, 1992

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Vanessa Vance

Vanessa L. Vance is a benefits paralegal with The Cicotte Law Firm. She has over 11 years of professional experience in retirement plan administration. Her responsibilities have included completion of plan valuations, plan maintenance, Form 5500 government reporting, compliance testing, and preparation of plan documents for qualified defined contribution plans. Vanessa also excels at maintaining client rapport and is an experienced office manager.

Before joining The Cicotte Law Firm, Ms. Vance was a Pension Administrator and FSA Technician with Petersen Hastings Investment Management and a Pension Administrator with Randall & Hurley Inc. and APEX Benefits Administration.

Education

Ms. Vance earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Sciences (emphasis in psychology) and a minor emphasis in history and management from Washington State University, Tri-Cites, and her Associate of Arts Degree from Columbia Basin College. Ms. Vance is not an attorney

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