Posted by Bruce Perlin on December 10, 2007:

Terence Craig passed away on October 5, 2007. He was a longtime member of the Employee Benefits Committee and co-chaired the subcommittee on Multiemployer Withdrawal Liability. I first met Terry Craig in 1985. I had just graduated law school and was juggling studying for the bar exam and working at the Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Health and Welfare and Pension Funds. Central States had just hired Terry away from the PBGC to run their burgeoning multiemployer withdrawal liability collection program. At the time he was hired, the Supreme Court had recently handed down its decision in PBGC v. Gray and more constitutional challenges were in the pipeline. In addition, deregulation hit the trucking industry hard and numerous companies were withdrawing. We had a large and growing caseload. We needed a strategy to resolve the work we had and a plan for the future. To the rescue came Terry. He taught us the law, how to litigate the cases we had, and how to manage the program for the future. Through his efforts we established many court precedents that remain the law today. Terry was a tireless worker. Until additional attorneys were hired, he supervised our cases and held his own caseload. Through those years together Terry was an invaluable resource to us. He also found time to help attorneys representing other funds with their cases. I switched jobs in 1996 and went to work for the Sheet Metal Workers National Pension Fund. Terry came aboard Sheet Metal about a year later. Shortly after his arrival at Sheet Metal he upgraded our computer system and streamlined the way we handled cases. As always, he found time to look at our court briefs and review our case strategies. Terry moved on to a law firm and a few years later I left for private practice as well. As I was leaving Sheet Metal in 2003, Terry introduced me to the Employee Benefits Committee and made sure that I went to work on a sub-committee right away. He also introduced me to many of the people on our Committee. Shortly after I started private practice, Terry told me about life in a law firm and made sure I knew how to succeed there as well. I moved on to my current position at the IRS in 2004 and Terry acted as a reference for me and again made sure I knew what life was like, this time as a government attorney. Throughout the twenty plus years of our friendship Terry was more than just a friend, he was also my mentor. I will miss Terry’s friendship and wisdom. He was a mentor in the truest sense of the word. Bruce Perlin

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