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  • Michael V. Toumanoff

    Counsel
    Business, Finance & Tax
     mtoumanoff@manatt.com
    Download Contact (.vcf)

    Los Angeles
    Direct: 310.312.4295
    General: 310.312.4000
    Fax: 310.312.4224
    Education

    University of California Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, J.D., 1982.
    Member, Moot Court Board.

     

    Harvard University, B.A., Government, magna cum laude, 1975.
    • Profile
    • Representative Matters
    • Honors & Awards
    • Publications
    • Memberships & Activities
    • Speaking Engagements

    Profile

    Mr. Toumanoff has specialized, for over 20 years, in the law affecting public retirement system fiduciaries, and has represented and advised several California public pension systems, including KCERA, LACERA, SBCERA, SDCERS and the Pasadena Fire & Police Retirement System, on a variety of issues.

    Mr. Toumanoff has authored and co-authored formal opinions on many issues concerning California public pension systems, including, in 1993, the first comprehensive opinion on the then newly enacted Proposition 162 for the State Association of County Retirement Systems (SACRS); the scope of members’ vested constitutional rights in a variety of contexts; the financial provisions of the 1937 County Employees Retirement Law under both the regular and alternate provisions in Articles 5 and 5.5; benefit issues; and conflict issues concerning trustees with conflicting public duties. He has reviewed, drafted and negotiated investment manager contracts for retirement systems and, in 1999, as counsel for the Pasadena Fire & Police Retirement System, negotiated and drafted a $100 million contribution agreement with the City to restore the actuarial soundness of the retirement system.

    Over the years, Mr. Toumanoff has spoken before SACRS, the California Association of Public Retirement Systems and the Institutional Investor Institute on various issues, including Proposition 162, system funding and conflicts of interest. He has also presented on fiduciary issues faced by counsel to public retirement systems at various programs sponsored by the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys, where he has served as lead chair of the Fiduciary and Plan Governance Section and is currently a member of the Executive Board.

    Representative Matters

    • Corcoran v. CCCERA, 60 Cal. App. 4th 89 (1997)
      Successfully upheld the retirement board's status as the "governing body" of the system.
    • Howard Jarvis Taxpayers' Assn. v. Board of Supervisors, 41 Cal. App. 4th 1363 (1996)
      Successfully upheld the LACERA board's decision to include cashable flexible benefits in the calculation of retirement benefits.
    • Legislature v. Eu, 54 Cal. 3d 492 (1991)
      Successfully upheld the California Public Employees' Retirement System's position that federal constitutional vested rights invalidated a newly-enacted provision in the California Constitution cutting off legislators' rights to continue to accrue service credit.
    • Represented the retirement boards of CCCERA, KCERA, LACERA and the SBCERA in cases and class actions arising in response to the California Supreme Court's decision in Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs' Assn. v. Board of Retirement, 16 Cal. 4th 483 (1997).

    Honors & Awards

    Publications

    Co-Author, “Conflict of Interest Rules For Public Retirement System Trustees And Staff,” SACRS Magazine, Winter 2010. 

    Author, New “Honest Services” Decision in the 7th Circuit Limits Reach of Federal Fraud Statutes, The NAPPA Report, August 2007, Volume 21, Number 3.

    Memberships & Activities

    Speaking Engagements

    Co-Speaker, “Ethics for Public Officials,” CALAPRS Principles of Pension Management for Trustees, March 27, 2013.

    Panelist, “Board Duties and Limitations Regarding Funding Issues and Benefit Cuts,” NAPPA 2013 Winter Seminar Meeting, February 6, 2013.

    Panelist, “Fiduciary Implications of Indemnification and Limitations of Liability Provisions in Vendor Contracts,” NAPPA 2013 Winter Seminar Meeting, February 6, 2013. 

    Co-Speaker, "Ethics for Public Officials," CALAPRS Principles of Pension Management for Trustees, March 28, 2012.

    Speaker, "Acting on the Basis of Actuarial Assumption Recommendations," CALAPRS Attorneys' Round Table, January 27, 2012.

    Speaker, "New GASB 25 and 27 Provisions," CALAPRS Attorneys' Round Table, September 16, 2011.

    Panelist, “Ethics Training,” SACRS Spring Conference, May 10, 2011.

    Moderator, “Actuarial Assumptions and Employer Contribution Holidays, ” NAPPA Legal Education Conference, June 24, 2010.

    Moderator, “Vested Rights and Benefit Changes,” NAPPA Legal Education Conference, June 23, 2010.

    Speaker, "Signs of Stability in 2010? The Shifting Sands of Pay-to-Play, Placement Agent, Campaign Contribution and Conflict of Interest Rules," SACRS Fall Conference, November 12, 2009.

    Speaker, "Update on Lexin," CALAPRS Attorneys' Roundtable, September 12, 2008.

    Speaker, “The Lexin Problem: What to Advise Your Clients,” County Counsels' Association of California, April 17, 2008.

    Speaker, “Managing Conflicts in the Wake of Lexin v. Superior Court,” Steefel Public Pension Fund Fiduciary Symposium, January 11, 2008.

    Panelist, “Conflicts of Interest and Fiduciary Duties: Are They on a Collision Course?” SACRS Counsel Breakout, November 14, 2007.

    Speaker, “Client Identity and ‘Gatekeeper’ Responsibilities Under the ABA Model Rules: Possible Lessons from the Private Side,” NAPPA Legal Education Conference, June 27, 2007.

    Panelist, “Coming to Terms with Custodial Agreements and Actuarial Agreements,” SACRS Counsel Breakout, May 11, 2007.

    Speaker, “How Plenary is Plenary:  The Scope and Limits of Board Discretion,” Steefel Public Pension Fund Fiduciary Symposium, January 19, 2007.

    Speaker, “Theft of Honest Government Services, What Does This Mean for Retirement Board Trustees?” SACRS Fall Conference, November 16, 2006.

    Speaker, “Review of 1090 Issues Posed by People v. Lexin – Has The Attorney General Ridden to the Rescue?” SACRS Counsel Breakout, November 15, 2006.

    Speaker, “Review of 1090 Issues Posed by People v. Lexin, Saathoff, et. al.” CALAPRS Attorneys’ Roundtable, September 8, 2006.

    Speaker, “Update on Conflict of Interest Prosecutions Involving the San Diego Pension System,” NAPPA Fiduciary and Plan Governance Section Meeting, February 9, 2006.

    Panelist, “Professional Ethics and Fiduciary Responsibility – Current and Developing Issues,” NAPPA Legal Education Conference, June 29, 2005.

    Speaker, “Some Special Ethical Considerations for NAPPA Members:  Public Pension Attorneys May Be More [or Less] Equal Than Others,” NAPPA 2004 Legal Education Conference, June 23, 2004.

    Speaker, “The Fiduciary Mandate:  Some Additional Thoughts on Issues of Peculiar Interest,” Institutional Investor Institute, April 24, 2002.

    Speaker, “Legal Issues Affecting California’s Public Pension Plans:  The Law, The Constitution, The Courts — and YOU,” CALAPRS Advanced Course in Retirement Plan Administration, November 18, 1999.