Baker Donelson's Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice is both deep and wide. Employer sponsors of these plans, including public and private companies, governmental, church, and other tax-exempt employers, as well as advisors to the plans such as trustees and insurers, look to us for advice. We offer a fully integrated practice that includes both counseling and litigation of ERISA and non-ERISA claims in all state and federal trial and appellate courts.
Our lawyers advise on issues unique to collectively bargained funds, multiemployer plans and welfare arrangements, and fully insured plans.
Employee Benefits
Our employee benefits attorneys are experienced in dealing with the issues that arise under the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, ADEA, ADA, FMLA, DOL, PBGCA, HIPAA, USERRA, and COBRA. They work closely with clients and their professional advisors in designing, drafting, and administering the entire spectrum of employee benefits plans. These include, for example:
- Tax-qualified retirement plans such as pension plans and 401(k) plans, and ESOPS;
- Welfare benefit plans, such as life, disability, accident, health, and flexible compensation (cafeteria) plans;
- Supplemental executive retirement plans and all types of deferred compensation arrangements; and
- Stock options and other equity-based compensation, group insurance, and split dollar insurance.
We maintain IRS-approved volume submitter plans. These pre-approved plans allow for economical implementation and maintenance of various types of retirement plans by our clients. We also custom design and obtain approval, where available, of individually designed retirement plans for those clients who need more flexibility.
Our Employee Benefits lawyers work closely with other Baker Donelson practice groups, including Labor & Employment, Health Care, and Taxation. They provide an in-house resource for administrative services agreements, stop-loss insurance policies for self-insured group medical plans, and negotiation of labor agreements.
Our lawyers are regularly engaged to speak before professional groups and have published extensively on employee benefits subjects for the American Bar Association Tax Section Employee Benefits Committee; the American Bar Association Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law Section; the Southern Employee Benefits Conference; and the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, among others.
Executive Compensation
Our Executive Compensation attorneys regularly advise on the planning, development, and implementation of simple and complex executive compensation programs for publicly and privately held companies. The range of advice includes executive employment agreements, compensation committee governance, incentive compensation plans, non-qualified deferred compensation, section 16 reporting, split dollar life insurance, and all types of equity or equity-like compensation plans (stock options, restricted stock, stock appreciation rights, phantom stock, stock purchase programs, and profits interest plans). We address issues including severance pay arrangements, non-competition, privacy, changes in control, and business acquisitions and mergers.
Litigation, Administrative Proceedings, and Alternative Dispute Resolution
Our litigation attorneys are experienced in ERISA and non-ERISA benefit claims. We routinely represent both claim and plan administrators in the defense of claims in state and federal courts as well as administrative agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. We also represent clients with claims against service providers or their fiduciaries. We regularly assist our clients in responding to agency inquiries regarding compliance, audits or investigations, reporting and documentation problems, fiduciary duties, and prohibited transaction provisions.
Our group is skilled at effectively handling large class actions and complex lawsuits. We maintain an active appellate practice at every level in state and federal courts and regularly assess an action for alternative dispute resolution options.