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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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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Treis Martin

Mr. Martin is an associate attorney with The Cicotte Law Firm. Prior to joining the firm he worked as a contract attorney, and he was previously employed as an associate at a law firm in Spokane, Washington.

Mr. Martin received his Master of Laws in Taxation (LL.M.) from the University of Washington School of Law in 2008 and his Juris Doctor from Gonzaga University School of Law in 2007. During law school he served as an Associate Editor for the Gonzaga Journal of International Law, and he participated extensively in multiple clinical law programs representing clients before the Internal Revenue Service, as well as in Washington State courts as a Rule 9 intern. In addition, Mr. Martin completed an internship with the Consumer Protection Division of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General. Mr. Martin's Bachelor of Arts degree was received from Brigham Young University in 2001.

Mr. Martin is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, American Bar Association, and J. Reuben Clark Law Society.

Bar Memberships

• Washington

Practice Areas

• ERISA
• Employee Benefits
• Taxation

Education

• University of Washington School of Law — Master of Laws (LL.M.), Taxation, 2008
• Gonzaga University School of Law — Juris Doctor, 2007
• Brigham Young University — Bachelor of Arts, 2001

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Sandy Muller

Ms. Muller joined the Cicotte law firm in January 2008. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Muller served as Corporate Counsel to Vivid Learning Systems, Inc., a publicly traded company, and its various predecessors and affiliates since 1995.

In her role as Corporate Counsel, Ms. Muller was responsible for a broad range of corporate activities including corporate formations, corporate compliance, contract development and negotiations, merger and acquisition activities, SEC compliance, day-to-day operational matters, and human resource liaison activities. During candidate searches, Ms. Muller guided the company through difficult transition periods serving as Chief Executive Officer of Vivid Learning Systems, Inc. from June 2007 to September 2007 and Chief Financial Officer of an affiliate corporation from June 1997 to January 1998.

Ms. Muller served as Senior Contract Specialist for Science Applications International Corporation from 1992 to 1995. She served as Senior Contract Specialist for Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, a U.S. Department of Energy Laboratory, in Richland, Washington from 1987 to 1992. Prior to that, Ms. Muller served as a staff attorney for a real estate firm and was a substitute teacher.

Bar Memberships

• Washington 1983

Practice Areas

• Business/commercial
• Contracts
• Corporate
• Government
• Securities

Education

• Willamette University College of Law — Juris Doctor, 1983
• Arizona State University — Bachelor of Arts in Education, Cum Laude, 1978

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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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