Shipman & Goodwin’s Employee Benefits practice has earned a reputation for quality service that attracts a diverse and sophisticated clientele that includes public and private companies, municipalities and nonprofit entities.
The employee benefits arena is governed by ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, and a host of complex regulations and rulings released by various federal agencies. In this environment, creating and effectively maintaining benefit plans and programs can be a challenging task for any employer. Our employee benefits attorneys interpret and apply these laws to help our clients develop a benefit structure tailored to their needs.
We work actively with employers to design, draft and assist in the ongoing administration of 401(k) plans, profit sharing plans, traditional defined benefit, cash balance and money purchase pension plans, tax-sheltered 403(b) annuity plans, employee bonus plans and severance plans. Our attorneys advise on tax law requirements (including correction of operational errors in plan administration through IRS correction programs) and ERISA fiduciary and investment implications. We also have extensive experience counseling employers with respect to the treatment of benefit plans in corporate transactions.
In addition, our attorneys advise employers on issues relating to health and welfare plans, including insured and self-insured medical plans, "VEBA" and "OPEB" trusts, cafeteria plans, wellness programs and incentives, flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), and high deductible/health savings account (HSA) arrangements—including tax and ERISA implications and compliance with COBRA and HIPAA rules.
We also counsel companies that provide services in the employee benefits industry, such as third-party administrators, prototype sponsors, trustees and other fiduciaries.