Practice Areas & Industries: Husch Blackwell Sanders LLP

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Our Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation practice focuses on designing, implementing, maintaining and terminating employee benefit plans, and analyzing and integrating benefits plans in acquisitions and mergers. We are primary consultants and originators of retirement plans, executive and equity compensation programs, and health and welfare plans. In addition, we routinely represent our clients in fiduciary and tax controversies.

We represent hundreds of clients throughout the United States in all areas of employee benefits and executive compensation, including incentive compensation arrangements, pensions, ESOPs, 401(k) arrangements and other retirement plans, health and welfare plans and other benefits related matters. Our group has a combined experience of over 100 years in dealing with specific employee benefits issues affecting private employers, Taft-Hartley union plans, as well as public and non-profit employers, giving our Firm a very broad range of practical experience in all related areas.

Our attorneys have significant experience in working with key providers and vendors in the negotiation of favorable arrangements for our clients needed to meet applicable fiduciary duties and administrative requirements.  We also serve as legal counsel to brokers and third party administrators, providing necessary advice in the health insurance and investment management industries on key employee benefits issues.

Services Available

Our services include:

• Designing and implementing employee stock ownership plans

• Designing and implementing employee equity and “phantom” equity plans, including options, restricted stock and stock appreciation rights

• Designing and drafting retirement, health, welfare and deferred compensation plans and trust documents

• Representing ERISA fiduciaries (including trustees, investment advisers and administrative committee members) in determining their duties

• Designing solutions to complex securities law problems relating to employer stock held by plans. For example, we designed a payroll deduction, stock option plan for United States employees of a United Kingdom company

• Representing employers and fiduciaries in ERISA litigation. We successfully defended an ERISA fiduciary in a precedent setting case affirmed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals

• Representing employers and fiduciaries in controversies before the IRS and Department of Labor. We recently settled with the IRS a potential prohibited transaction excise tax claim in excess of $100 million and at the same time negotiated a tax deduction for employee benefits in excess of $40 million

• Designing arrangements to retain and incent executives and other employees, including change-in-control severance agreements

• Advising plan administrators on correcting errors. Problems often arise for which no easy solution exists. Our responsibility is to help administrators implement practical solutions

• Analyzing employee benefit risks and opportunities in connection with mergers and acquisitions, and integrating the benefit programs of the combined entities

The types of clients we serve also enhance our perspective. We represent "consumers" of employee benefit services, such as employers and in-house fiduciaries. We also represent "providers" such as banks, mutual funds, investment advisers and third party administrators. We understand all sides of the employee benefits business, and are effective with employers, administrators, regulatory authorities and consultants.

Expertise

Our clients rely on us to design creative, practical and cost-effective solutions to employee benefit problems. We seek to understand each client’s business and proactively suggest employee benefit oriented opportunities to achieve the client’s objectives, comply with government regulations and eliminate risks in plan operations and administration.

We keep our clients informed. We routinely communicate with our clients about new opportunities in the benefits area, new benefits ideas and legal developments by e-mail.

Clients: