Employee Benefits Navigating Complexity
As federal and state laws governing benefits and compensation grow more complex, it is critical for companies to have highly experienced counsel to develop sophisticated plans in all areas of employee benefits. Our attorneys offer consultation on executive and broad-based benefit plan design in keeping with all relevant regulatory demands. The transactional dimension of our practice includes evaluating benefit programs and advising on strategies to contain costs, limit liability, and protect benefits during the course of a merger or acquisition. We also represent clients facing government and private party litigation and state and federal agency adjudicatory proceedings.
Reach
Commercial Pragmatism
We represent a cross section of clients ranging from Fortune 100 public companies to family-owned businesses and fledgling startups, assisting them both domestically and internationally in all areas of employee benefits, including:
- Business Transactions
- ERISA Litigation
- Executive Compensation
- Fiduciary Counseling
- Health & Welfare Programs
- Pension Fund Management
- Retirement Income Funds
Approach
Connected & Informed
The diverse and visionary client base for which we provide innovative advice keeps our practice at the forefront of critical developments in our field. Our Washington, D.C. office maintains strong relationships with national policymakers both in Congress and at agencies, including the Department of Labor, Department of the Treasury, the Pension Guaranty Corporation, and the Internal Revenue Service. Our attorneys keep a close watch on legal and regulatory developments to provide insights in the context of benefits planning, due diligence in transactions, and managing investigations and inquiries.
Experience
Developed a comprehensive legal risk reduction strategy, minimizing the effects of out-of-network provider claims and lawsuits against PepsiCo’s health plans, including revisions to the health plans’ documents and summary plan descriptions; proper response language to claims filed by out-of-network providers against the health plan; and annual document updates.
Advised on the ERISA and compensation aspects of an unprecedentedly large voluntary termination incentive program — a key part of senior management’s transformation initiatives.
Served as legal counsel for fiduciaries in annuitization transactions under a defined benefit pension plan.
Advised on and/or handle the client’s retirement plan audit under the Internal Revenue Service’s especially intensive large plan audit program, including developing a successful integrated service offering through cross-practice collaboration.
Advised several Fortune 500 companies regarding the move of each company’s post-65 retirees from a traditional retiree medical plan to a health reimbursement arrangement paired with a private Medicare exchange.
Provided comprehensive benefits and compensation advice to the world’s leading source of commercial information and insight on businesses, including a comprehensive revision of their plan governance structure.
Acted as counsel to a major investment management company when navigating tax provision Section 162(m) — the “million-dollar cap” on non-performance compensation — while providing careful consideration of the SEC disclosure requirements and the financial accounting effects. Also, advised on special compensation programs for long-term retention, carefully designed to operate on a nonqualified basis under the so-called “top hat” exemption.
Assisted a major client in a confidential transaction regarding a new approach to funding for current and future retiree health liabilities, including pursuing a DOL Advisory Opinion concerning “prohibited transactions” under ERISA.
Assisted several major companies, including a global restaurant brand, with de-risking their pension plans through special distributions of lump sums.
Assisted a global automobile manufacturer with the relocation of its employees from New Jersey to Atlanta and other U.S. cities.
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Disclaimer
While we are pleased to have you contact us by telephone, surface mail, electronic mail, or by facsimile transmission, contacting Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP or any of its attorneys does not create an attorney-client relationship. The formation of an attorney-client relationship requires consideration of multiple factors, including possible conflicts of interest. An attorney-client relationship is formed only when both you and the Firm have agreed to proceed with a defined engagement.
DO NOT CONVEY TO US ANY INFORMATION YOU REGARD AS CONFIDENTIAL UNTIL A FORMAL CLIENT-ATTORNEY RELATIONSHIP HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED.
If you do convey information, you recognize that we may review and disclose the information, and you agree that even if you regard the information as highly confidential and even if it is transmitted in a good faith effort to retain us, such a review does not preclude us from representing another client directly adverse to you, even in a matter where that information could be used against you.
