Of Counsel

Richard S. Belas

Mr. Belas received a B.A. degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He earned his J.D. degree from the University of Virginia Law School in 1973 and his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law in 1977. While at the University of Virginia, he was a member of the Law Review Editorial Board.

Prior to returning to private practice in 1989, Mr. Belas served as Chief Counsel to Senator Robert Dole in his capacity as Senate Majority Leader (1985-86) and Republican Leader (1987-88). From 1980 to 1984, Mr. Belas served as Deputy Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance where he headed the committee=s tax staff. Before entering public service, Mr. Belas practiced law in New York City and Connecticut.

He has lectured throughout the United States on tax issues and has taught tax policy in the MBA program at Chaminade University in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Mr. Belas is a member of the District of Columbia and New York bars, as well as the American Bar Association Section of Taxation and Section of Business Law.

Thomas W. Ewing

As a member of Congress, Mr. Ewing served on the House Committee on Agriculture and as chairman of the Agriculture Subcommittee on Risk Management and Specialty Crops, and played a major role in the passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. He is a leading expert on agriculture issues, specifically those involving commodity futures and derivatives, crop insurance, and risk management. He also served on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the House Committee on Science, the Committee on House Administration, and the Joint Economic Committee.

His considerable legislative experience in the transportation area was in the fields of aviation and surface transportation. He also was a leader in expanding foreign trade, particularly the export of agricultural commodities, and was a leading proponent of China's entry into the World Trade Organization. Mr. Ewing was an advocate of regulatory reform, expanded rural health care, and higher education.

Mr. Ewing was instrumental in rallying support to elect fellow Illinois Congressman Dennis Hastert as Speaker of the House in 1998. He argued that "Denny" was one who could reach consensus among members with differing ideologies.

Before his election to Congress, Mr. Ewing was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1975-1991), where he was named Assistant Minority Leader in 1982 and Deputy Minority Leader in 1990. He was in private practice in Illinois with the firm of Satter, Ewing & Beyer for 22 years and is a member of the Illinois Bar. Congressman Ewing is currently not admitted to the District of Columbia Bar.

Congressman Ewing and his wife Connie who reside in Pontiac, Illinois and Washington, D.C., are the parents of six grown children.

Thomas L. Stapleton

Before joining MetLife, Mr. Stapleton served for nine years in the U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division, as a trial and appellate attorney specializing in insurance tax litigation and as Assistant Chief of the Appellate Section.

Mr. Stapleton is a member of the New York and District of Columbia bars as well as the United States Supreme Court. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Federal Claims and various Federal courts around the country.

Over the years, he has served as chairman of the Committee of Annuity Insurers, chairman of the ACLI Company Tax Subcommittee, secretary-treasurer of the Mutual Company Tax Committee and chairman of its Technical Committee, and for over twenty years chairman of the Tax Committee of the Life Insurance Council of New York. He is a frequent speaker on insurance taxation at seminars and conferences and has testified before Congress on insurance tax matters.

Mr. Stapleton received his B.A. from Brooklyn College in 1956 and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1959. He completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1991.

Mr. Stapleton resides in Middleburg, Virginia.

Thomas M. Sullivan

Tom's principal practice area is state life insurance law and regulation. He has substantial expertise in the life insurance provisions of the New York Insurance Law and has acted as Aetna's and CIGNA's principal interface with the New York Insurance Department's Life Bureau on contract and compliance issues. While at Aetna, Tom headed Law Department practice groups with responsibility for government relations, individual and group life and health insurance, annuities, and pensions/financial services.

At CIGNA, Tom advised the Corporate Insurance Group on COLI/BOLI-related state insurance law and federal tax and securities matters and became an authority on state insurable interest statutes, playing lead roles in drafting and supporting the enactment of Ohio's first law on the subject and in the liberalization of the archetypal New York Insurance Law section 3205.

Tom has also chaired or served on many National Association of Insurance Commissioners and life industry association committees and task forces on matters as far-ranging as underwriting for AIDS and "banks-in-insurance". His writings on life insurance and financial services issues have appeared in publications of the American Council of Life Insurers, the Association of Life Insurance Counsel and the Society of Actuaries.

Tom received his B.S. degree in History from Fordham University in 1964 and his J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1968. He is a member of the New York, Connecticut and District of Columbia Bars. He lives with his wife, Carol, in Lake George, New York.