The Author: S. Derrin Watson
S. Derrin Watson, J.D., received his bachelor's degree in accounting from BYU.
He later graduated 5th in his class from UCLA Law School. Formerly the tax
partner of a law firm in Beverly Hills, Mr. Watson is now a consultant and
speaker for the
Relius, a division of SunGard. He also maintains a solo tax practice
limited to retirement plan issues.He has been involved with qualified plans since 1977, and had his first case involving controlled groups shortly thereafter. He has maintained a strong interest in the controlled group/affiliated service group arena. He is the leading authority on controlled group, affiliated service group, and leased employee issues.
He lectures frequently for SunGard Relius, and various professional organizations. The American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries awarded Derrin its Educator's Award in 2006 for his dedication to education for the next generation of retirement plan experts and his continuous support of others. He is a Senior Editor for the Journal of Pension Benefits and has written many articles for various professional publications, and co-authors The Pension Library. He also writes the popular Who's the Employer column for BenefitsLink and blogs for SunGard.
Mr. Watson is the managing partner of the Pension Information eXchange (PIX) computer BBS and has written the software used on the PIX system.
He has a wife, two sons, the most intelligent grandson on the planet, and three cats. His varied experiences range from doing standup comedy, to serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
in Iran, to editing and writing books and newsletters on a variety of topics, to
directing choirs.