Scott E. Galbreath

415-788-3111  
415-277-8080  
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Education

  • LL.M. (Tax), with honors, 1991
    IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law
    Chicago, Illinois
  • J.D., 1986
    IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law
    Chicago, Illinois
  • B.A., with high honors, 1983
    Elmhurst College
    in Political Science and Urban Studies,
 [double major]
    Criminology minor
    Elmhurst, Illinois

Professional Career

  • 2023 – Present
    Counsel
    Trucker Huss, APC
    Sacramento, California
  • 2017 – 2023
    Of Counsel
    Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld
    Leader of the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice group
  • 2013 – 2017
    Attorney
    The Burton Law
    Leader of the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice group
  • 2007 – 2013
    Senior Attorney
    Chang, Ruthenberg & Long

Professional Licenses
and Affiliations

  • Member, State Bar of California
  • State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization Certified Specialist in Taxation Law, 2017
  • Member, State Bar of Illinois
  • Member, Sacramento County Bar Association, Business, Labor and Employment, and Tax Law Sections
  • Member, National Institute of Pension Administrators
  • Past President, Sacramento Chapter of Western Pension & Benefits Council
  • Past President, Sacramento Chapter of National Institute of Pension Administrators
  • Past Chair, Sacramento County Bar Association Tax Section
  • Past Chair, Chicago Bar Association, Taxation Committee’s Exempt Organization Division
  • Past Chair, Chicago Bar Association, Trade & Professional Associations Law Committee
  • Past Chair, CBA Employee Benefits Committee’s Executive Compensation Subcommittee
  • Past Chair, CBA Employee Benefits Committee’s ERISA Litigation Subcommittee
  • Impact Foundry, Faculty Member

Scott E. Galbreath leads the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Team. He has more than 30 years of experience representing employers in ERISA, employee benefits, and executive compensation matters.

Scott’s extensive experience includes working with clients on all types of nonqualified deferred compensation plans, supplemental executive retirement plans, 457(b) and 457(f) plans for executives of tax-exempt organizations, equity and synthetic equity plans, such as restricted stock and phantom stock or stock appreciation rights, golden parachutes, and change-in-control and severance arrangements. He also assists clients with Internal Revenue Code section 83(b) and 409A compliance and correcting qualified plan compliance errors under IRS and Department of Labor remedial programs.

After practicing for 20 years in Chicago, where he was recognized as an Illinois Leading Lawyer and chaired the Chicago Bar Association’s Executive Compensation Subcommittee, Scott moved to California, where he has served as Chair of the Sacramento County Bar Association’s Tax Section, as well as President of the Sacramento Chapter of the Western Pension & Benefits Council. He continues to serve on the WPBC Board of the Sacramento Chapter. He has also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Governing Board of the Western Pension & Benefits Council and as a board member of the Sacramento Chapter of the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA). He served as President of the Sacramento Chapter of NIPA and instituted its merger into the Sacramento Chapter of Western Pension & Benefits Council.

Scott is a Fellow of the highly selective American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, and he is a frequent writer and speaker on new developments in employee benefits. He is a regular contributor to the Journal of Pension Benefits published by Wolters Kluwer and the author of The Benefit of Benefits blog, which is an online resource for information and commentary on new legislative, regulatory, and industry developments in employee benefits and executive compensation.

Scott was named a Top Lawyer for Employee Benefits (2015-2017 and 2020-2022) and a Top Lawyer for Tax (2021) in the lists published by Sacramento Magazine. He was also named a Super Lawyer in Northern California Super Lawyers 2021-2022 for excellence in employee benefits law. Scott is recognized by Martindale-Hubbell as an AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated lawyer.