Practice Areas & Industries: Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Ogletree Deakins offers a broad range of benefits-related services to clients. Advanced tax training enables our highly experienced employee benefits attorneys to provide consulting and planning advice to clients in designing, implementing, and administering employee benefits plans and in devising innovative strategies to serve business and employee interests.

Services Available

We assist clients in the preparation and implementation of various employee benefits plans such as tax-qualified retirement plans, welfare and fringe benefits programs, cafeteria (Section 125) plans, and severance pay plans. We also provide assistance in the merger and termination of benefits programs and in all the benefits aspects of corporate reorganizations, including mergers, acquisitions, and spin-offs.

Our employee benefits practice features an executive compensation element. We often assist clients in the establishment of stock option programs and non qualified deferred compensation arrangements, such as supplemental executive retirement programs ("SERPs") and benefits restoration plans. We have established many rabbi trusts for the funding of executive retirement arrangements.

We also advise clients on such matters as health portability ("HIPAA") requirements, continuation coverage ("COBRA") rules, reporting and disclosure obligations to the Department of Labor and to the Internal Revenue Service, retirement and welfare plan nondiscrimination requirements, and cost containment strategies. Our employee benefits attorneys have significant experience in assisting clients with Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor audits. Our attorneys understand how to communicate with and respond to government inquiries and can help clients avoid audits and prepare for audits.

Litigation of employee benefits matters can often be avoided by adequate planning and compliance with applicable laws. Part of our consulting and planning practice is devoted to positioning the client to avoid unnecessary employee benefits litigation. When litigation arises, however, our employee benefits attorneys can defend and resolve employee benefits disputes in the most advantageous manner.

Clients:
Taft-Hartley