701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 200, Washington, DC USA 20004
Peter Daines focuses his practice in the area of employee benefits, including executive compensation, health and welfare plans, fiduciary duties, and ERISA litigation. He advises employers on all legal issues regarding their employee benefit plans including 401(k) plans, pension plans, nonqualified plans, and health and welfare plans. Peter reviews employee benefit-related documents for potential liabilities during due diligence for merger and acquisition transactions and helps employers craft, maintain, and terminate benefit plans, service provider contracts, business associate agreements, and other documents in compliance with constantly evolving laws and changing business climates.
Prior to joining the firm, Peter was an associate in the Jacksonville, Florida, office of an national law firm where he practiced employee benefits law.
While attending Georgetown University Law Center, Peter served as a law clerk for the Honorable Carolyn P. Chiechi in the United States Tax Court. He was an intern for Congress-woman Lois Frankel in Florida’s 21st District and for the Honorable Paul F. Friedman in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Peter was an Executive Editor for The Tax Lawyer, which was distributed to 20,000 tax lawyers nationwide.
Peter is joint winner of the 2019 Kilpatrick Freedom from Discrimination Award for pro bono work representing a transgender woman who was discriminated against by a hospital system. In 2022, he was named to the Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll, which recognizes the contributions of those D.C. Bar members who donated 50 hours or more of pro bono service during the previous calendar year.
Peter was recognized in 2025 as one of the "Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch" for Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law by The Best Lawyers in America®. He was recognized as a Washington D.C. "Rising Star" in 2023 and 2024 for Employee Benefits Law by Super Lawyers magazine.
Peter is proficient in Spanish.
Experience
Represented a former Fortune 500 company in negotiation of a highly customized and groundbreaking $3 billion pension de-risking transaction, including drafting and negotiating novel and innovative contractual features (such as that the insurer agreed to take on comprehensive risk relating to the pension plan and to conduct a lump sum window after buy-out, both of which were, to our knowledge, firsts in the industry) on an extremely accelerated and inflexible timetable.
Advised a multinational company in connection with groundbreaking $800 million pension de-risking transaction featuring highly customized and novel pricing structure (featuring both a buy-in period and an optional but pre-structured buy-out option, with a lump sum window in between, and with several pricing true-up events carefully negotiated to provide the client with both pricing certainty for accounting purposes and the best price available) and ultimately received the following note from in-house counsel: “I wanted to take a moment to thank you both for your incredible competence, tireless efforts and outstanding results on this unique project. We parachuted you in late in the process, but you never missed a step. You both conducted yourselves with incredible grace and professionalism throughout the engagement. I know I speak for the entire team when I say we all really enjoyed working with you and we appreciate the huge value you added to the process and the outcome.”
Assisted a Fortune 500 company with drafting and submission of a successful pension funding waiver application to the IRS, including direct negotiation with IRS representatives on an accelerated timetable, resulting in the deferral of hundreds of millions of dollars in pension liabilities in time to avoid incurring significant risk of penalty interest, and including subsequent negotiation with PBGC representatives relating to the collateral to be pledged in connection with the grant of the funding waiver.
Assisted a Fortune 500 company with navigation of a host of pension compliance issues triggered by a Chapter 11 restructuring.
Assisted in the representation of a Fortune 500 company in defending against litigation brought by a former independent contractor alleging millions of dollars in damages for decades of alleged miscategorization.
Insights View All
Georgetown University Law Center LL.M. (2018) Taxation, with distinction, Dean’s List
Georgetown University Law Center J.D. (2017) Bruce and Anne Blume Opportunity Scholar
Utah State University B.A. (2013) Law and Constitutional Studies, Dean’s List, Aggie Scholar
District of Columbia (2019)
Florida (2018)
United States Tax Court - Honorable Carolyn P. Chiechi (Oct 2017-May 2018)
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