About Us
Jerry Reiss has over 35 years of experience with design and administration of employee benefit plans. He achieved the enrolled actuary status in 1983. He is actively enrolled in 2020. In 1982 he passed his associateship exams with the Society of Actuaries. He has experience with retirement plan audits and resolved every one favorably. He worked with the Congressional Committee on IRS oversight in 1992-1993. He has 29 years experience in expert witness and forensic support services. The trial court favored his testimony over the competing expert more than 89% of the time (in more than 190 trials). He has been a major force in the development of case law on family law issues in Florida. He is available for expert witness testimony or for trial consultant work. He is also available for appellate consultant work assisting your attorney with very technical financial issues.
Mr. Reiss authored and coauthored almost 20 article appearing in official state bar journals on many different forensic topics: family law, employment law and personal injury. He also authored and coauthored another dozen articles in other legal publications, including the prestigious American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Journal, in law review format. He has been quoted in Lawyers Weekly, The Huffington Post and numerous appellate opinions. All of his publications can be found and read at his profile page at LinkedIN and many in the publication section of this website.
In 1995 he was a guest speaker before The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Illinois Chapter in Chicago. In addition, he has been a guest speaker before the Georgia State Bar, Employment Section, Young Harris, GA, 2007, the Sixteenth Annual Conference for Mediators & Arbitrators, 2007 and he was a paid speaker before ALPA (the Air Line Pilots Association) in Reston, VA in 1997. He was a guest speaker before the Florida Bar in the Spring of 1996. Most of his speaking engagements were pre-approved for CLE credit. He has been a guest speaker before numerous local chapters of bar organizations over the past 25 years. He previously sponsored a CLE class that was preapproved with Florida Bar CLE general credit and 2.0 hours of appellate credit. He was selected for AAML best Experts, 1995-96 before that list was dissolved in 1997, and was listed in Best Experts in America for Employment and Family Law, 2006-2012 until Best Lawyers in America dissolved that service.
Mr. Reiss is retained in cases generally regarded as a must win or to make certain the family law divisions are fair and follow the statutes and case law. The above cited winning data reflects the most important issues involving Mr. Reiss' testimony (as of 4/30/22).
TESTIMONIALS
Here is what Judge Harnage of the Miami Circuit Court had to say about Mr. Reiss in The Carollo dissolution ( Joe Carollo was the former Mayor of Miami and Judge Harnage's comments are recorded in the public domain)
"I should also say that, as I made this determination, and I listened to the experts that were presented to me, Mr. Reiss was, frankly, a vastly superior expert who gave me an extraordinary amount of information and appreciation of this very difficult subject matter area. The opposing expert (who is referred to) is a practicing retirement plan attorney in south Florida."
** Listed in Best Experts in America. 2006- 2012®
Mr. Reiss' testimony is often sought by both sides of the controversy when an expert is retained on a must win trial basis.
Here are some comments made by some attorneys.
"The client prevailed on all issues raised in the Appeal. Your knowledge of the case law and understanding of retirement benefit issues were the reason for this success."
Tom Casper,
Tampa LawyerGeneral PractitionerRetired
"Jerry Reiss has an impressive resume and courtroom talent. He has a unique writing talent and has helped many Florida practitioners in briefing complicated legal issues in our appellate Courts. I unhesitatingly recommend him to you as one of the outstanding Florida family law expert witnesses."
Michael Walsh,
(Orlando, FL)Listed,
Best Lawyers in America
"Jerry was able to formulate some original and quite impressive theories which translated into expert testimony" Jesse Hogg
(Coral Gables, FL)
Employment Law
Former Listing Best Lawyers in America (Retired)
He presented himself as highly credible, persuasive and authoritative.
Michael Addicott
(Hollywood, FL)
Triple Board Certified
"I have found Mr. Reiss to be an invaluable resource in the analysis and legal interpretation of pension language, alimony and related language found in marital settlement agreements. In addition to Mr. Reiss serving as a sounding board for my legal interpretation and "theory of the case" for cases involving these issues, he has never failed to provide an enhancement to the final presentation of my case."
Gary Holthus
(Gainesville, FL)
Board Certified Family Law
Mr. Reiss was very knowledgeable, as any lawyer, in the area of equitable distribution and retirement plans.
Jeffrey Connor
(Orlando)Board Certified Family Law
I found your ability to address issues and concepts and present them in a context to be presented to a court to be extraordinary.
Jerry Kavulich
(Coral Gables, FL)Real Estate
Client testimonials
"Jerry was able to frame my case into compelling broad issues, clarifying a myriad of details that had accumulated during more than a year of litigation. He was able to identify case law that bolstered my case and to suggest legal arguments as well. I was amazed at his ability to identify key facets of this complicated legal matter. The result was a strong counter-argument to my ex-wife's claims. Due in large measure to Jerry's contributions, I prevailed in all aspects of the case."
D. Jack Elzinga,
PhD. Professor Emeritus
Industrial and Systems Engineering
(Chair, 1979-1997)
University of Florida (Gainesville)
"It is with great enthusiasm that I highly recommend JERRY REISS. I am a retired firefighter. ...Jerry found me a local attorney who was up for the challenge. ...His vast mental reference book of Family law cases helped my attorney immensely. I am so glad that my ex husband did not hire him!
R N
Gainesville, FL
"Mr. Reiss, at the request of my attorney, helped lay the groundwork and prepare the case for an appeal. He did so in a brilliant manner and provided invaluable legal support. ... "The Court also found Mr. Reiss's testimony extraordinarily knowledgeable and helpful" (final order)."
Mari Carollo (Former wife of Joe Carollo, (Former Mayor of Miami))
"I would sincerely recommend him to anyone involved with marital and family law, pension rights, alimony, and asset distribution issues. ...Acquiring his services was the best move I made during this difficult time."
George Keidan,
Educator
Coral Springs, FL
Jerry Reiss' presentation in the court room was amazing to view as our Judge hung on every word he said and our overwhelming victory at trial was mostly due to his performance.
Lee M. Gantz
Business Proprietor (Ft. Lauderdale)
ERISA matter
"He not only possesses excellent actuarial skills, but also has the uncanny ability [to] balance not only pension law but also divorce law for the benefit of his clients. "
Capt. Dennis R. Olden
Retired Pilot, NW Air Lines