EMPLOYEE BENEFITS & ERISA

Cohen & Buckmann’s Employee Benefits & ERISA lawyers are known for their advice and counsel on all types of qualified retirement plans, including pension plans, 401(k) plans and ESOPs, as well as Section 403(b) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). We understand the critical role employee benefits play in attracting talent and driving performance. Cohen & Buckmann attorneys are experienced at understanding the key goals and incentives that are important and helping to achieve them by analyzing the governance implications and legal and financial risks associated with the various benefit plans and structures. 

Cohen & Buckmann attorneys draft and review tax qualified and supplemental retirement plans, and help employers keep qualified pensions affordable, navigate regulatory issues, and harmonize benefits after mergers and acquisitions. Led by Carol Buckmann, who started practicing in employee benefits law in the late 1970s, just a few years after ERISA was passed, Cohen & Buckmann’s Employee Benefits & ERISA practice regularly advises on compliance with legal requirements and the latest law changes, including the SECURE and CARES Acts, and advising on fiduciary responsibility, how to avoid prohibited transactions and navigating government audits. Through our Fiduciary Audit Service, we provide a privileged process review/independent assessment of a retirement plan’s procedural and operational compliance practices. This allows a best line of defense through robust governance practices.

Awarded the legal industries highest honors, our attorneys are often called upon by law firms of all sizes, from global multinational firms to boutique M&A firms, to serve as their employee benefits and ERISA department, helping their clients establish and maintain their employee benefits plans and ensure they comply with the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, and other applicable laws that impact employee benefits. We integrate seamlessly and confidentially into their clients’ transactions or matters including those involving pension disputes, stock option and equity-plan design and decision-making, and profit-sharing plans. 

Most of our work involves:

  • Cash balance plans and other defined benefit pension plans

  • Profit sharing and 401(k) plans

  • Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) at all stages of their life cycle

  • Tax qualified and nonqualified deferred compensation program plan governance reviews and advice re: fiduciary best practices

  • Review and negotiation of plan services agreements

  • Advice regarding compliance with laws affecting welfare plans, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and COBRA. 

  • Merger & Acquisitions 

  • Representing clients before the IRS, Department of Labor and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)

The attorneys in our Employee Benefits & ERISA practice are known within and outside the United States for:

  • Helping to shape ERISA and other laws related to employee benefits

  • Interpreting and advising on complex employee benefits laws

  • Assisting M&A lawyers with our employee benefits specialty advice in connection with their deals, such as pension plan due diligence, and assisting business transaction lawyers with ESOP startups, buyouts, and plan terminations

  • Helping multinational clients, including many Canadian companies, with cross-border tax, pension and employment issues for U.S. employees and expatriates

  • Advising employers and plan fiduciaries when hiring or evaluating investment advisers and managers and other employee benefit vendors.  

  • Sharing their in-depth knowledge of laws related to employee benefits by speaking before professional groups, at industry events and by writing articles for leading industry publications.