Polsinelli Shughart PC has a deep bench of qualified Employee Benefits attorneys who cover all aspects of plan creation and design, plan compliance and executive compensation agreements.  Collectively our attorneys have more than 100 years of combined employee benefits expertise, providing practical, proactive advice, while also striving to develop innovative solutions to all of your employee benefit needs.
 

In this increasingly complex area of compliance responsibility, with a multitude of different legal requirements under the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, among other state and federal mandates, the team will work with you to not only minimized the risk of problems, but to develop a strategy for success. A key to such success lies in the development of initial advisory alerts, training programs, educational campaigns and regular internal memorandums that properly outline the compliance obligations as well as the keys of the organization’s successful usage of such arrangements. 

Major Areas of Practice

Polsinelli Shughart employee benefit and executive compensation attorneys practice in the following areas:

• Retirement plans
• Welfare benefit plans
• ERISA fiduciary duty and plan investment counseling
• Employee stock ownership plans
• ERISA and employee benefit plan litigation
• Executive compensation

Retirement Plans

We design and implement pension, profit sharing, 401(k), 403(b), 457(b) and (f) plans, employee stock ownership, target benefit and stock bonus plans that are governed by ERISA and that qualify for certain tax benefits under the Internal Revenue Code.  In each situation, we assist our clients in maximizing the design alternatives that may be unique to their industry or applicable tax status, but in all situations working to ensure the solution is the most practical alternative for that client’s specific situation.  We are uniquely staffed with experienced attorneys and paralegals skilled in all aspects of plan drafting and compliance administration.

Welfare Benefit Plans

We provide compliance guidance and planning assistance to employers, managed care organizations, insurance companies, benefit funds, third-party administrators, trade associations, benefits consulting firms and others on a broad range of health and welfare matters, including the design and drafting of health plans, cafeteria plans, medical reimbursement arrangements and a variety of other welfare benefit plans.  We also work with our clients to develop innovative approaches in a single-employer and multiple-employer framework, using health savings accounts, health reimbursement arrangements and other similar “consumer-driven healthcare” models, in addition to more traditional health plan arrangements in a self-funded or fully insured arena.  With our established Washington, D.C. presence, we’re also able to provide immediate feedback on new health care initiatives that are being discussed in Congress, as well as quickly assist our clients with implementation of compliance processes new compliance initiatives such as the new “COBRA Subsidy” guidelines passed in February of 2009.

ERISA Fiduciary Duty and Plan Investment Counseling

Employers, trustees and other plan service providers regularly seek our advice on ERISA's fiduciary duty and prohibited transaction rules. We counsel clients on the fiduciary duty and prohibited transaction aspects of plan operations, including the investment of plan assets, the engagement of plan service providers and the proper handling of claims disputes.  We advise plan sponsors and financial institutions on structuring investment management and advisory relationships, on designing financial services products, and on securing real estate and other asset-type portfolios and products to comply with ERISA's fiduciary provisions. When necessary, we assist clients in obtaining advisory opinions from the Department of Labor.

Employee Stock Ownership Plans

Our attorneys work closely with employers, both small and large, to introduce and maintain employee stock ownership as a key employee benefit. Employee Stock Ownership Plans are qualified plans designed to invest primarily in qualifying employer securities in a tax-advantaged manner. We advise our ESOP clients with respect to the complex fiduciary and qualification issues that arise with respect to ESOPs, as well as assist in the design and set-up of ESOPs for companies that have ranged in size from as few as 25 employees to public companies of more than 50,000 employees.  Where appropriate, we also advise on, design and assist in implementing Employee Stock Ownership Funds, which take advantage of the eligible individual account plan provisions of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code, while at the same time avoid the complication of pass-through voting, required stock distribution and uniform allocation formulas of ESOPs. 

ERISA and Employee Benefit Plan Litigation

In today’s increasingly litigious society, our group has assisted many of its for-profit and nonprofit clients in defending unwarranted claims against the organization and its plan fiduciaries.  At the present time we are assisting a nonprofit health care facility, and its qualified defined benefit pension plan, defend a denial of benefit claim made by a surviving child of a deceased employee who did not elect for successor benefit coverage prior to her date of death.

Executive Compensation

Polsinelli Shughart has wide-ranging experience with numerous types of executive compensation arrangements for corporations, commonly known as non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements. Our practice covers the tax, securities law and ERISA aspects (if any) of a variety of arrangements, including maintaining compliance with Internal Revenue Code Section 409A, for a variety of employment agreements, severance arrangements, “golden parachutes”, stock options, phantom stock, excess benefit plans, supplemental executive retirement plans, and other incentive compensation arrangements. This includes the assistance with our clients in establishing “reasonable compensation” limits, and identification of other compensation amounts to “incentivize” the employee to align their goals with those of the company.

Other Areas of Specialty

Aside from the core practice services we provide, as summarized above, the employee benefit and executive compensation group at Polsinelli Shughart also provides support to other practice areas within the firm on an as-needed basis.  A sampling of these other service areas includes: