Eva T. Cantarella

Eva T. Cantarella is a partner at Hertz Schram. Her primary practice areas are (i) Property Tax Appeals and (ii) Employee Benefits, with a focus on class claims for pension benefits under both the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA") and governmental plans.  Ms. Cantarella is currently litigating several class claims for pension benefits, including a Class Action against the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System.

Property Tax Appeals

Ms. Cantarella is the former owner and President of Oakland/Macomb Appraisal Services (OMAS), a real estate appraisal company.  During her tenure with OMAS, Ms. Cantarella performed thousands of appraisals for banks, mortgage companies and other financial institutions.

Since 1996, Ms. Cantarella has handled all property tax appeals at Hertz Schram, including appeals on office, industrial, retail, and luxury condominium properties. To date, all appeals Ms. Cantarella has handled have resulted in a significant reduction in the taxable value of the subject property. Successful resolutions the past few years have included the following: (i) Historic 46-Story Office Building in Downtown Detroit; Taxable value reduced from 7,259,000 to 4,773,500--a 34.25% reduction. (ii) 179,700 SF Showroom / Warehouse in Troy; Taxable value reduced from 3,446,890 to 1,648,125--a 52.19% reduction. (iii) 147,400 SF Light Manufacturing Facility in New Baltimore; Taxable value reduced from 2,299,600 to 1,326,500--a 42.32% reduction. (iv) 29,750 SF Office Building in the City of Bloomfield Hills; Taxable value reduced from 1,067,690 to 335,290--a 68.60% reduction(iv) 325,000 SF Shopping Mall in Livonia; Taxable value reduced from 8,553,320 to 4,939,320--a 42.25% reduction  (v) 72,500 SF Strip Mall in Haring Township; Taxable value reduced from 1,449,400 to 953,800--a 34.19% reduction. (vi) 27,100 SF Strip Mall in Denton Township; Taxable value reduced from 694,600 to 496,000--a 28.59% reduction. (vii) 16,000 SF Showroom / Warehouse in Troy; Taxable value reduced from 558,640 to 287,500--a 48.54% reduction. (viii) 5760 SF Medical Office Condo; Taxable value reduced from 780,600 to 555,500--a 28.84% reduction.

Pensions.

Ms. Cantarella has also been a speaker and commentator on pension issues in, and to, a variety of fora and media, including pension asset managers, pension and investment reporters, the IRS, Department of Treasury, and other governmental agencies, international consulting and accounting firms, cable television, pension interest organizations and associations, and national, state, and local employee benefit groups.

Ms. Cantarella's activities in the pension arena and comments on pension issues have been reported in/on numerous publications and websites, including www.BenefitsLink.com; www.pensionrights.org; www.TheJournalnews.com; www.CFO.com; the Wall Street Journal, IBL Class Action Reporter; Lawyers Weekly USA; Business News; Gannet News; Cincinnati Enquirer; Hartford Courant; Tax Analysts; and Michigan Benefits and Business. Not surprisingly, Ms. Cantarella is frequently solicited for comment on pension issues by our nation's legislators, employee and retiree organizations, and reporters.

In 2002, Ms. Cantarella authored A Class ACT: ERISA Pension Claims and the Class Action Mechanism, which was published in the National Lawyer's Weekly and Michigan Lawyers Weekly. In 2006, Ms. Cantarella organized over 160 law professors and attorneys around the country to advocate for amending ERISA's remedial statutes so as to better protect participants and their beneficiaries with respect to their employer-provided benefits. Today the group has grown to 330 members and is known as GEER (Group for Equitable ERISA Remedies). Ms. Cantarella is admitted to practice in all U.S. Courts of Appeals, including the U.S. Supreme Court, and in the U.S. Tax Court; and has been admitted to practice pro hac vice in numerous federal district courts.