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With 39 years of experience as a trial attorney, Russell Buhite is a nationally recognized defense counsel who represents life, health, and disability insurance companies, benefit plans, and employers in litigation, and advises on both ERISA and non-ERISA matters pending in federal and state courts across the country. His recent focus is on representing and advising employers regarding Taft-Hartley multiemployer plan issues such as withdrawal liability and delinquent contribution claims.
He is a member of the life, health, and disability committee of Defense Research Institute (DRI) as well as a former national chair of the American Bar Association TIPS section’s Health and Disability Insurance Committee, the Healthcare Reform Task Force, and the Insurance Regulation Committee. He has published extensively in this area of law as a co-author on all editions of the ABA’s ERISA Survey of the Federal Circuits, as well as for DRI’s “For the Defense” magazine, and other national publications, and has spoken widely on ERISA litigation issues. He is a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC), which is composed of recognized leaders in the defense legal community worldwide who have achieved professional distinction and have been selected following extensive client and peer review, and is a former Chair of the Life, Health, and Disability Insurance committee of the FDCC.
An AV-Preeminent-rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell, he has also been named in Best Lawyers in America – Litigation – ERISA (2011–present), and selected as Lawyer of the Year for Seattle in this category for 2019, 2022, and 2026. He is admitted to practice by the state bars of Florida, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Missouri, and in a number of federal district courts and courts of appeal.
