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Goldowitz, Israel

Israel Goldowitz - Washington, DC

Attorney at The Wagner Law Group

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Lawyers in Washington, DC

1701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Second Floor Washington, DC 20006

202-969-2800 Call Now Email Website Website

Updated: 03/16/2026

Attorney Information

Overview

Israel (Izzy) Goldowitz is uniquely qualified to advise on single- and multiemployer defined benefit pension plans in mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, and bankruptcy. Izzy has more than 40 years of experience in these areas, including 30 years with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and ten years as PBGC’s Chief Counsel.

With PBGC, Izzy led legal teams that helped save the pensions at Chrysler and negotiated protections with Sears, among many other examples. Izzy now assists plan sponsors, buyers of businesses, and other parties in mitigating pension risks in corporate transactions, in negotiating with the PBGC and multiemployer plans, and in presenting pension issues to judges, arbitrators, management, and stakeholders.

Izzy has helped establish several key precedents in the U.S. Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals. Among them are decisions upholding mandatory arbitration of withdrawal liability claims, defining the rules for terminating single-employer plans and distributing their assets, and confirming the application of ERISA in pension disputes in bankruptcy. He has extensive experience in federal courts at all levels, including amicus briefs in the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals. He often provides expert guidance to litigation counsel and has rendered several expert opinions on pension issues.

Izzy began his career with the United Mine Workers of America Health & Retirement Funds, a pioneering group of multiemployer plans. He was the lead PBGC attorney on multiemployer transactions, rulings, and advice for many years, and later oversaw that work as PBGC's Deputy General Counsel for Program Law and Policy. That included the development of regulations and other guidance for the PBGC single-employer and multiemployer insurance programs and advising Congress on legislative proposals affecting those programs, including rescue of the multiemployer system.

Izzy is well known in the ERISA and bankruptcy communities and to leaders in government, business, labor, and academia. He is a frequent speaker and has written book chapters, articles, and continuing legal education materials on both employee benefits and bankruptcy topics.

Izzy served as a member of the Board of Governors of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel and is active in the International Pension and Employee Benefits Lawyers Association. He served on the Labor and Benefits Advisory Committee to the American Bankruptcy Institute's Chapter 11 Reform Commission and co-wrote the report of the pension subcommittee. He taught Employee Benefits for more than 20 years in the Georgetown University Law Center Masters of Law program and is a frequent guest lecturer at New York-area law schools.

Izzy earned his J.D. from George Washington University National Law Center and his B.A. in History from Boston University. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and in New York.

Awards and Honors

Honors

  • Best Lawyers - 2020 - Present
  • Georgetown University, Vicennial Award (2013)
  • PBGC Distinguished Career Service Award (2012)
  • Fellow, American College of Employee Benefits Counsel (inducted 2001)
  • PBGC Meritorious Service Award LTV Steel bankruptcy and termination (2003)
  • PBGC Meritorious Service Award Amicus brief in Bay Area Laundry Pension Trust Fund v. Ferbar (1998) (on statute of limitations in withdrawal liability cases)
  • PBGC Meritorious Service Award Damages study in Page/Collins v. PBGC (1994)
  • PBGC General Counsel’s Award, Attorney of the Year (1997)

Education

  • Legal Education

    • George Washington University National Law Center, Washington, District of Columbia, 1979
      J.D.

  • Non Legal Education

    • Boston University, College of Liberal Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, 1975
      B.A.
      Honors: cum laude
      Major: U.S. History

Classes and Seminars

  • Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., Adjunct Professor, 1991 - Present
  • Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., Co-Teach Employee Benefits Survey, 2016 - Present
  • Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., Co-Teach International Bankruptcy, 2011 - 2015
  • Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., Co-Teach Introduction to Employee Benefits Law, 2008 - 2015
  • Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., Co-Teach ERISA: Plan Termination and Withdrawal Liability, 1991 - 2010
  • Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., Guest Lecturer, Human Rights at The Intersection Of Trade And Corporate Responsibility, 2013
  • Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., Guest Lecturer, Employee Benefits Issues in Bankruptcy, 2009, 2010

Published Works

Articles

  • PBGC Requests OMB Approval for Data Collection for ERISA Title IV Coverage Analysis - (Co-author, with Susan Rees) The Wagner Law Group Law Alert, , May 13, 2019
  • The PBGC Wins a Case Whenever the Debtor Keeps its Pension Plan, 16 Marquette Benefits and Social Welfare Law Review 257 (2015) (co-author),
  • “Pension Claims and ERISA,” in W. Norton III and W. Norton, Jr., Norton Bankruptcy Law & Practice (West) (co-author 2012 ed.).
  • “Special Rules for Multiemployer Plans,” in J. Zanglein, L. Frolik & S. Stabile, ERISA Litigation (BNA Books 2003 and 2005 eds.) (co-author 2009 and 2011 eds.).
  • Real and Apparent Conflicts between ERISA and the Bankruptcy Code, 11 Norton Bankruptcy Law Adviser 3 (1996) (co-author)
  • The Controlled Group Rule for Purposes of the Withdrawal Liability Provisions of ERISA, 90 W. Va. L. Rev. 773 (1988) (co-author)
  • Defined Benefit Pension Issues Expected in the Next Wave of Bankruptcies - AIRA Journal Vol. 33 No. 1, May 2020
  • Employee Benefits Issues Prominent in Restructuring and Bankruptcy Cases - Bloomberg Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal, January 3, 2020, Vol. 48, No.

Bar Admissions

  • New York
  • District of Columbia, 1979
  • U.S. District Court
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit

Other Affiliations

  • Bankruptcy & Corporate Reorganization Committee - New York City Bar
  • American Bar Association Section of Taxation, Employee Benefits Committee Define Benefit Plan Subcommittee (Vice Chair, 2019)
  • American College of Employee Benefits Counsel Inc., member, Board of Governors (2015-present); Secretary (2017-present); member and chair, Law Student Outreach Committee (2014-17); judge, first annual Employee Benefits Moot Court, Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law (2018)
  • John Marshall Law School, Member, Employee Benefits Advisory Board, 2017 - Present
  • Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, American University, Washington College of Law, high-school student moot court judge, 2016
  • D.C. Bar/GULC Street Law Program, Thurgood Marshall Academy (Charter High School), Substitute Teacher, 2016
  • American Bankruptcy Law Journal, Peer Reviewer, 2014 - Present
  • American Bankruptcy Institute, Commission To Study The Reform Of Chapter 11, Member, Labor And Benefits Advisory Committee, 2012 - 2014
  • Washington Literacy Council, Tutor, 2007 - 2012
  • Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School Of Government, Mastering Negotiation: Building Sustainable Agreements, 2007
  • Federal Sharing Neutrals Program, Co-Mediator, 2003 - 2013
  • National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Expert Witness Trial Advocacy, 1997
  • Fellow, Council for Excellence In Government, 1996 - 1997
  • Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., Adjunct Professor (1991-present).

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