W. Alan Wilk is the Leader of the Firm's Government Policy practice. His practice focuses on election, campaign finance and lobby law, gaming, and public retirement, as well as nonprofit organizations and trade associations.

Mr. Wilk is the Team Leader for the Firm's Political Compliance Team, which represents and advises individuals and corporate entities on federal and state election, campaign finance, lobby law and other political activity. Such representation includes:

• Candidates for public office
• Corporations, trade associations, unions and partnership/LLCs
• Political action committees and "soft-money" committees
• Public officeholder accounts
• High net worth individuals

Mr. Wilk acts as the Co-Leader of the Firm's Public Retirement Team, representing public pension and retirement plans. He has served as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Michigan retirement systems since 1996. Mr. Wilk has assisted in the drafting and implementation of several innovative retirement programs for large public pensions, such as:

• Tax qualification matters
• Defined contribution plan conversions
• Excess benefit plans
• "Early-out" incentive programs
• The use of annual and sick leave plans as a method for saving budget dollars for public entities
• Prefunding of health benefits

Mr. Wilk has also consulted and defended public pension plans in federal and state court.

Mr. Wilk's practice has also included representing both casino owners and gaming suppliers in regulatory matters before the Michigan Gaming Control Board as a member of the Firm's Casino Team. He also advises those with casino interests on political contribution matters under the Michigan Gaming Act and Michigan Campaign Finance Act.

As a member of the Firm's Nonprofit and Tax-Exempt Organizations practice, Mr. Wilk has incorporated hundreds of nonprofit entities, including charities, civic organizations, trade associations, and political groups. He regularly advises these organizations on a wide range of issues, including corporate, tax and regulatory matters. Mr. Wilk has coordinated and conducted internal investigations regarding potential civil and criminal activity for nonprofit and education clients. He is a member of, and regularly consults with, Dykema's Government Investigations and Corporate Compliance Team.

Prior to his law career at Dykema, Mr. Wilk was a law clerk for the Telecommunication Association of Michigan. He also served as a staff member in both the Michigan State Senate and the Michigan State House of Representatives. His prior political roles included fundraising and campaign consulting for local, state and federal races.

Mr. Wilk has written several articles and has hosted seminars in the areas of election, campaign finance, and nonprofit law.

Bar Admissions

Michigan, 1995

Education
Boston College, J.D. James Madison College at Michigan State University, B.A.

• with honors

• Ingham County Bar Association, Member
• State Bar of Michigan, Member
• Republican National Lawyers Association, Member
• Michigan Society of Association Executives, Member and contributing author for organization's magazine, Impact
• American Bar Association, Member

• Association of Corporate Counsel Seminar, Lansing and SE Michigan, September 2006 - "Corporations and Politics: How To Stay Out of Trouble"

• Ingham County Briefs, October 2006 "Election Day 2006: Know The Facts"
• Corp! Magazine, Summer 2006 "The Political Game - How To Play It Right"