Firm History

SES Advisors, Inc. and Steiker, Fischer, Edwards and Greenapple, P.C. serve a niche clientele - those who consider employee ownership as a valuable tool for financial planning and ownership transition.

In 1985, Jim Steiker began his career as an attorney for PACE, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization that promoted employee ownership. His future partner, Steven Fischer, was outside counsel to PACE.

By 1987, Jim founded his own law firm to focus his advisory practice exclusively on Employee Stock Ownership Plans. He soon joined with Ginny Vanderslice and another partner to form Praxis Associates, Inc., the predecessor to SES Advisors. Through Praxis, the firm was able to provide transaction planning, ESOP recordkeeping and organizational development services to create, maintain and improve ESOP companies.

By providing a unique combination of legal, administrative and financial advisory services to ESOP companies, both firms grew and gained reputations for being among the foremost ESOP advisors in the country.

In 1995 Ginny Vanderslice spun off the organizational development practice. She and Alex Moss continue their highly successful ESOP education and training enterprise as Praxis Consulting Group, Inc.  

Steven Fischer joined the firm in 1996 adding depth and sophistication to the law firm’s ESOP practice. At the time, Steve had more than a dozen years of ESOP experience, including as general counsel to the then-largest ESOP focused investment banking firm in the country.

SES Advisors and Steiker, Fischer, Edwards & Greenapple, P.C. have continued to add key principals, including Brian Wurpts, Vice President of Plan Administration Services, Steve Greenapple, Esq., Bob Massengill and Jim Higgins, ESOP Finance Specialists, and Rob Edwards, Esq.  Kyle Coltman and Meg Shrum are the most recent additions to SES Advisors.

Today, SES Advisors and Steiker, Fischer, Edwards & Greenapple together have one of the nation’s largest core groups of ESOP attorneys, financial advisors and recordkeeping consultants. Thirty professionals serve clients nationwide from five strategically located offices in Philadelphia, PA, Morristown, NJ, Providence, RI, Lake Anna, VA and Redwood City, CA.  The professionals in both firms participate actively as speakers, authors, and committee members in The ESOP Association and the National Center for Employee Ownership.

The firm continues to grow in both size and experience and has been able to expand its scope of services.  Because of its success, the firm has been recognized by the Philadelphia 100 five times in the last six years as one of the fastest growing companies in Philadelphia and was recently inducted into its Hall of Fame.