Bruce Barth, head of the firm's Employee Benefits and Compensation Group, focuses his practice on the representation of employers with respect to retirement and welfare benefits, executive compensation, and benefits issues in corporate transactions. Mr. Barth advises clients on the implications of tax, securities, labor, and other laws, including ERISA and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Drawing from over 30 years of employee benefits experience, Mr. Barth partners with clients to develop benefit plan design and compliance strategies that meet both their business objectives and the legal requirements applicable to their employee benefits plans. He counsels clients with regard to the full spectrum of employee benefits matters, including qualified defined benefit and defined contribution plans, defined benefit plan funding, nonqualified programs and executive compensation arrangements, plan compliance and correction, health and welfare programs, participation in multiemployer plans, withdrawal liability, and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Barth has spent significant time understanding and speaking on health care reform issues. Mr. Barth is a member of the Taxation and Business Law Sections of the American Bar Association as well as the Taxation Section's Employee Benefits Committee. Mr. Barth is past president of the Hartford Chapter of the Worldwide Employee Benefits Network and a past member of its national board of directors. He is currently a member of the board of the Connecticut Public Pension Forum, a nonprofit organization focusing on providing education and advice to governmental plan fiduciaries. Mr. Barth has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Employee Benefits Law since 1995 (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC). He has also been included on the Connecticut Super Lawyers® list since 2006 in the areas of Employee Benefits/ERISA, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Employment & Labor Law (Super Lawyers is a registered trademark of Key Professional Media, Inc.). Professional Associations - American Bar Association, 1984 to present, Taxation Section, Employee Benefits Committee (EPCRS and other Administrative Practices) - Worldwide Employee Benefits Network, Hartford Chapter, 1991 to present, Former National Board Member, Past Chapter President - Employee Stock Ownership Plan Association, 1998 to present - Connecticut Public Pension Forum, 1999 to present, Board Member - National Association of Public Pension Attorneys, 2007 to present Honors and Awards - AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated in Martindale-Hubbell™ in the areas of Employee Benefits, Labor and Employment, and Taxation Law (Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings is a trademark. AV Preeminent is a certification mark of Reed Elsevier Properties, Inc.) - Listed in Connecticut Super Lawyers® in the area of Employee Benefits Law/ERISA since 2006 (Super Lawyers is a registered trademark of Key Professional Media, Inc.) - Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Employee Benefits Law since 1995 (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC) Experience - Performed HIPAA analysis for plan sponsor's group health plans, including drafting of policies and procedures and negotiation of business associate agreements. - Advised plan sponsor regarding consolidation of sponsor's multiple welfare benefit plans and cafeteria plan into a single "wrap plan" and drafted document for new plan. - Representation of an aerospace and defense company concerning its acquisition of NEA Electronics, Inc., in a stock purchase transaction. NEA designs, develops, and manufactures highly reliable nonexplosive separation mechanisms, battery cell bypass switches, electrical interconnect devices, and nonpyrotechnic valves for critical space and defense applications. - Representation of an aerospace and defense company concerning acquisition of substantially all the assets of the defense and aerospace business of Special Devices Inc. Client provides diversified systems for missiles, space launch vehicles, the soldier, and ground vehicles. Client is prime contractor to U.S. and foreign military customers and subcontractor to many U.S. prime contractors. Special Devices' Defense & Aerospace Group provide many critical components complementary to client's core product lines. - Representation of Symphony Marketing Solutions, Inc., a company providing analytics and data management services in the retail, pharmaceutical, and consumer packaged goods industries, concerning acquisition by Genpact International, Inc., a business processes management company. - Representation of an aerospace and defense manufacturer in acquisition through reverse triangular merger of a company in the laboratory services industry. - Representation of a construction materials company concerning the sale of its asphalt paving and construction contracting business in Michigan and Indiana. - Provided advice to a unionized corporation which participated in a multiemployer plan on a mechanism to reduce or avoid withdrawal liability while it was reducing its workforce. - Representation of company in connection with sale of a subsidiary which had employees covered by seven different multiemployer plans. - Provided advice to a unionized corporation that participated in a multiemployer plan on a mechanism to reduce or avoid withdrawal liability while it was reducing its workforce. - Represented privately-held technology company with respect to the design, implementation, and administration of its stock, stock option, and stock equivalent programs. - Challenged the IRS in its assertion that our client, an employer of over 10,000 employees, was ineligible to sponsor a 401(k) plan for its employees. - Represented an executive with respect to the negotiation and drafting of his employment agreement, stock awards, and option agreements. - Represented an executive of a telecommunications company with respect to his employment agreement, nonqualified stock options, incentive stock options, and other compensation arrangements. - Represented a multinational employer with respect to all of the employee benefits it offers to its employees. - Represented a multinational corporation with respect to the design, drafting, and funding implementation of deferred compensation programs for its executives. - Designed and created a deferred compensation program for the members of a Native American tribe. - Provided benefits counsel for a tax-exempt hospital that sold all of the operating assets of one of its significant divisions to a publicly traded corporation. - Served as outside employee benefits counsel to a large health care organization and assisted with executive compensation matters, including the design, drafting, and implementation of nonqualified deferred compensation programs for its executives. - Assisted large hospital and health care system with respect to the design, drafting, and implementation of defined contribution plans, including the addition of a 403(b) plan. - Assisted a health care organization in reviewing its defined contribution plans for compliance with statutory requirements, developed correction strategies, and obtained approval of corrections through governmental correction programs. - Served as outside employee benefits counsel to a tax-exempt community hospital, providing advice on its employee benefit plans, including its health and welfare arrangements and retirement programs. - Counseled a large hospital in employee benefits matters regarding its acquisition of another hospital in an integrated transaction. - Assisted large Connecticut-based hospital with complex RFP process involving a search for a retirement plan service provider and negotiation of a favorable administrative agreement. Publications & Presentations Articles - "Know your obligations under COBRA: First employee notification due at time group coverage begins," coauthored with Kerri Willis (6/2002), published in CBIA News Books - Enron: What Will Happen to 401(k) Plans Now?, coauthored with Cynthia Christie (Winter 2002), published by Prime Asset Consulting Group - CBIA's Complete COBRA Guide published by Connecticut Business & Industry Association Presentations - Panelist at Defined Contribution Roundtable at the Fiduciary Investment Advisors Annual Client Conference (6/15/2011) - "Health Care Reform: A Practical Look from the HR Perspective" (4/26/2011) presented at Human Resource Association of Central Connecticut - "Annual Legislative & Regulatory Update" (12/9/2010) presented at Worldwide Employee Benefits Network - "Health Care Reform: What HR Needs to Know" (11/3/2010) presented at Society for Human Resource Management, Panelist - "The Future of Health Care" (Summer 2006) presented at Connecticut Business & Industry Association Symposium - "Civil Unions in Connecticut and the Impact on Governmental Employers" (10/26/2005) presented at Connecticut Public Pension Forum - "Counseling the Small Business Client in Connecticut: Employee Benefits" (11/2003) - "Risk: Do You Know How Much You Are Taking" (6/2003 and 10/2003) - "Nuts and Bolts of 401(k) Plans," copresented with Cynthia Christie and Lorman Education Services (9/2002) News 2.01.12, Bruce Barth Presents Annual Benefits Legislative Update to WEB 6.28.11, Bruce Barth Discusses Defined Contribution Plans at FIA Conference 6.16.11, Bruce Barth Weighs-in on Pension Plan Ruling in CT Law Tribune 5.06.11, Bruce Barth Presents on New Health Care Reform Laws 4.05.11, Benefits Attorneys Present at CBIA's 2011 Compensation & Benefits Conference 1.18.11, Bruce Barth Provides Annual Legislative and Regulatory Update for WEB 1.10.11, Bruce Barth Panelist on "Health Care Reform: What HR Needs to Know" 10.20.10, Health Care Reform Webinar Prepares Employers and Health Plans for Coming Changes 9.23.10, Hospital Honors Corporate Sponsors 6.14.10, Robinson & Cole Partner Quoted in Hartford Business Journal on Health Care Reform Impact to Local Businesses 4.01.10, Robinson & Cole Attorney Quoted in Hartford Courant Article on Bernie's Bankruptcy Benefits and Compensation 9.11.09, Robinson & Cole Attorneys Coauthor Article on 401(k) Plans for the Journal of Retirement Planning 11.13.08, Robinson & Cole Partner Speaks at First Annual SPPON Trustee Symposium |