EMPLOYEE BENEFITS/ERISA
One of the largest ERISA practices in the Midwest representing 100+ single and multiemployer (Taft-Hartley) employee benefit plans in 20+ states.
Managing an employee benefit fund is a complex undertaking. Trustees of employee benefit plans wear many hats. In addition to being fiduciaries they are running labor unions or managing their own businesses.
In order to fulfill their fiduciary obligations to plan participants, employee benefit plan Trustees need experienced legal counsel to serve as a core component of their team of professionals. We bring more to clients than just legal services. Our role as counselors is equally important. We use our knowledge and expertise to assist clients in all aspects of operating their plans.
With 40+ years of experience, our firm has accumulated a wealth of not just legal expertise, but also practical knowledge and experience. Our attorneys have developed a knowledge and understanding of the industries that support them and the organizations that participate in these economic sectors.
In addition, we have built a wide-ranging network of relationships and contacts within the industry at large servicing employee benefit plans. Clients - and the retirement plan industry as a whole - look to our firm as a valued partner and thought leader.
Employee Benefits services include:
- Defined Benefit Pension Plans
- Alternative Pension Plan Designs
- Defined Contribution/401K, Health & Welfare, SUB, & Apprenticeship Plans
- Plan and Trust Design & Termination
- Health Care Plans
- Vacation/Holiday Plans
- Apprenticeship & Training Plans
- Supplemental Unemployment Plans
- Drafting plan operational documents - Summary Plan Descriptions, Policies & Procedures
- Supplemental Unemployment Plans
- Alternative Pension Plan Designs
- Maintenance of tax-exempt status
- Department of Labor (DOL) & Internal Revenue Service Audits (IRS) & Compliance
- Efficient and accurate review of Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs)
- Drafting and review of communications to participants
- Collection of contributions owed to multi-employer plans (including alter-ego and withdrawal liability matters)
- Review of investment manager agreements
- Litigation involving benefit disputes and other issues
- Public funds' compliance with PA 314 laws and regulations
- Plan mergers, partitions and terminations
- Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014
- MAP-21
- Pension Protection Act Compliance
- Multiemployer Pension Reform Act Compliance
- Affordable Care Act Compliance
- Health Insurance Portability Act & Accountibility
- Investment & Alternative Investment Review
- Employer Withdrawl Liability
- Employer Delinquencies/Fringe Benefit Collection Litigation
- Plan Insolvency Issues & Plan Partitions