Practice Areas
The Firm's ERISA practice covers many different types of employee benefit plans, both qualified and non-qualified, and includes advice and client counseling in the following areas:
- Retirement Plans
- Non-Qualified Plans and Executive Compensation
- Plan Administration
- Welfare Benefit Plans
- Plan Testing
- Plan Compliance
- Income and Pension Excise Taxes
- Other Plan Issues
- ERISA Title I
- Employment Taxes
- Administrative Representation
Retirement Plans
- Defined benefit plans
- Flat benefit plans
- Variable/unit credit benefit plans
- Fixed benefit plans
- Cash balance plans
- QSERPs
- Defined contribution plans
- Profit sharing plans
- Money purchase pension plans
- Stock bonus plans
- Code Section 401(k) (cash or deferred arrangement) plans
- Safe harbor 401(k) plans
- Roth 401(k) plans
- Eligible automatic contribution arrangements (automatic enrollment)
- Qualified automatic contribution arrangements
- Employee stock ownership plans ("ESOPs")
- KSOPs
- Code Section 403(b) plans
- Traditional 403(b) plans
- Roth 403(b) plans
- Governmental plans
- Public sector union plans
- Multiemployer plans
- Multiple employer plans
- Master and prototype plans
- Volume submitter plans
- Taft-Hartley plans
- Association plans
- Individual retirement accounts and annuities ("IRAs")
- Traditional IRA
- Roth IRA
- SIMPLE plans and IRAs
- Simplified employee pensions ("SEPs")
- Self-directed IRAs
- Keogh plans
Non-Qualified Plans and Executive Compensation
- Deferred Compensation
- Code Section 409A
- Supplemental executive retirement plans ("SERPs")
- Deferred compensation plans for directors and non-employees
- Salary and bonus deferral arrangements
- Performance pay arrangements
- Excess benefit plans
- Severance plans
- Separation agreements
- Equity incentive arrangements
- Phantom stock plans
- Code Section 457(b) and (f) plans
- Employee stock purchase plans
- Top hat plans
- Stock options
- Stock appreciation rights
- Code Section 83
- Split-dollar life insurance
- Equity-based compensation
- Golden parachutes and handcuffs
- Rabbi trusts
- Secular trusts
Plan Administration
- Due diligence reviews of plan administrative practices, policies and prodecures
- Service provider and TPA consulting, including drafting and review of service agreements
- Contributions
- Distributions
- Loans
- Rollovers
- Plan terminations
- Partial plan terminations
- Testing
- Nondiscrimination testing, safe harbors, general test
- Top-heavy testing
- Coverage testing
- Participation testing
- Qualified domestic relations orders ("QDROs")
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Stock acquisition
- Asset acquisition
- Plan self-audits
Welfare Benefit Plans
- Welfare plans and trusts
- Wrap or umbrella plans
- Voluntary employees' beneficiary associations ("VEBAs")
- Multiple employer welfare arrangements ("MEWAs")
- Multiemployer plans
- Health, dental and vision plans
- Self-funded plans
- Retiree health plans
- Health reimbursement account plans
- Health savings account plans
- Wellness programs
- Medicare secondary payer rules
- Life/AD&D plans
- Short and long-term disability plans
- Severance plans
- Cafeteria plans
- Premium conversion plans
- Health flexible spending account plans
- Dependent care flexible spending account plans
- Fringe benefit plans
- Education assistance plans
- Transportation benefit plans
- Adoption assistance plans
- Long term care plans
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA")
- Portability rule
- Privacy rule
- Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act
- Family and Medical Leave Act
- Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ("USERRA")
- Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 ("COBRA")
- COBRA continuation health coverage
Plan Testing
- Benefits, rights and features (Code Section 401(a)(4) "general test")
- Nondiscrimination (Code Section 401(k) and 401(m))
- Actual deferral percentage ("ADP")
- Actual contribution percentage ("ACP")
- Coverage (Code Section 410(b))
- Ratio percentage test
- Average benefit test
- Code Section 415 contribution and benefit limitations
- Annual additions
- Top-heavy (Code Section 416)
Plan Compliance
- Plan compliance reviews
- Employee communications
- Summary plan description ("SPD")
- Summary of material modifications ("SMM")
- Benefit forms
- Safe harbor notice
- Qualified default investment alternative notice
- Qualified automatic contribution arrangement notice
- Form 5500- Annual Return/Report
- Forms 5329 and 5330- pension excise tax returns
- Section 404(c) compliance
Income and Pension Excise Taxes
- Excess Contributions
- Prohibited Transactions
- Additional Income tax on Early Distributions
- Failure to Meet Minimum Funding Standards
- Unrelated Business Taxable Income
Other Plan Issues
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Stock acquisition
- Asset acquisition
- Planning for distributions
- Plan design
- Pension issues in bankruptcy
- Classification of pension excise tax as tax or penalty
- Availability of plan assets to bankruptcy estate
- Plan drafting and amending
- Trust agreements
- Resolutions
- Indemnification agreements
- Federal tax lien/levy against plan assets
ERISA Title I
- Reporting and disclosure
- Preemption
- Benefits claims
- Causes of action
- Subrogation
- Statute of limitations issues
- Expert witness
- Litigation consulting
- Investment issues
- Plan asset rules
- Fiduciary and ERISA consulting
- Fiduciary obligations and liability
Employment Taxes
- Worker Classification:
--Employee
--Independent Contractor
--Leasing Arrangements - Federal Income Tax Withholding
- Federal Insurance Contributions Act ("FICA")
- Federal Unemployment Tax Act ("FUTA")
Administrative Representation
- IRS, DOL and PBGC plan audits
- Internal Revenue Service determination and opinion letters
- Form 5300 – Application for Determination for Employee Benefit Plan
- Form 5307 – Application for Determination for Adopters of Master or Prototype or Volume Submitter Plans
- Plan termination certification
- Form 5310 – Application for Determination for Terminating Plan
- Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation filings ("PBGC")
- IRS Correction Program, Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System ("EPCRS")
- Self-correction Program ("SCP")
- Voluntary Correction Program ("VCP") filing
- Audit Closing Agreement Program ("Audit CAP")
- Private letter rulings
- Technical advice
- DOL advisory opinions
- DOL prohibited transaction exemptions
- DOL correction programs