Employee Benefits Attorney Nick Ferrigno Dies at 50

Nicholas W. Ferrigno, Jr., was a Member and Chairman of the ERISA Controversy Team of the law firm of Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald, PLLC with offices in Louisville, Lexington, Frankfort and Covington, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Ohio and Nashville, Tennessee. Nick was known for his particular expertise in ERISA Fiduciary and compliance matters having previously served with the US Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration. He was named a Cincinnati Leading Lawyer by Cincy Magazine for 2007 and 2008 (both distinctions being earned while battling cancer). He was also a recipient of the Cincinnati Business Courier's "Forty Under 40" Award. He was the past Employee Plans Coordinator and member of the Great Lakes Region Governmental Entities/Tax Exempt Entities Council of the Internal Revenue Service. Nick was also the Founder and Past-President of the ASPPA Benefits Council of Greater Cincinnati, Past Chair of the Employee Benefits Committee of the Cincinnati Bar Association, a former member of the ASPPA Government Affairs Committee; Sub-Committee on U.S. Department of Labor Enforcement, Co-Author of the ERISA Question and Answers Column on BenefitsLink.com and was an active member of the ESOP Association.

Nick also was an Eagle Scout and a very active volunteer with the Dan Beard Council of the Boy Scouts of America, having served on its Board of Directors and as Past District Advancement Chairman. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Erlanger (Kentucky) Housing Development Corporation and was on the Board of Governors for the Salmon P. Chase School of Law Alumni Association.

In addition to the above, Nick co-authored these employee benefits-related texts: ERISA Facts, Benefits Facts, The Insider's Guide to Department of Labor Audits and the 2008 supplement to the Coverage and Nondiscrimination Handbook. He also published numerous articles for trade association journals and was a frequent presenter on employee benefits topics to various bar associations and industry groups.

In spite of the above accomplishments, Nick considered his greatest achievement to be his family -- his wife Rhonda and his daughters Brittany (19) and Alexis (14). They were his joy and his delight in this life and he demonstrated his love and devotion to them on a daily basis in countless ways.

In addition to being Nick's professional colleague and co-author, I also had the distinct pleasure of having him as my dear friend for most of the past twenty years. He was a brilliant, decent and hard-working man who taught me many lessons about being a better person, a better friend, and a better lawyer. He loved life and was full of wonderful stories of growing up in Rhode Island with his trio of life-long friends Guy Settipane, Perry Borelli and Jim Rothschild. Nick also was proud of the fact that he played Division I college football at the University of Rhode Island, having made the team his Freshman year as an undersized walk-on. He was fast and worked himself into football shape, to the point that he was a two-way player as a defensive back and half-back. By his senior year he was good enough to warrant consideration as a professional player. Everyone who knew Nick understood very well his abiding devotion to fitness, health and good old fashioned competition.

His is an example of a life well lived. Those of us who knew Nick and were blessed with the privilege of having him as a brother, a husband, a father, or a friend will miss him dearly and we are thankful for his being a part of our lives.