DEPARTMENT PROFILE

Groom Law Group, Chartered

Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation

7 ranked lawyers

Band 1

District of Columbia

USA 2021 View ranking table

chambers review

department information

Ranked Lawyers

Chambers Review

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What the team is known for

Distinguished employee benefits boutique, widely praised for its handling of a broad array of tax and benefit issues. Highly sought after for its well-established connections to governmental entities and its specialized expertise in matters such as executive compensation, fiduciary responsibility, and plan funding and restructuring. Offers a wealth of experience with regulatory issues affecting plans, including Department of Labor investigations.

Strengths

Clients appreciate that "the firm has a great depth of knowledge and the right people to answer any kind of question."

One source states: "They are consummate professionals and give great legal advice."

Work highlights

Advised a coalition of financial institutions in connection with the Fifth Circuit’s vacatur of the DOL's fiduciary rule. The firm succeeded in persuading the DOL to issue a new prohibited transaction class exemption that allows fiduciary advisers to receive transaction-based compensation.

Notable practitioners

Andrée St. Martin advises clients on a wide range of employee benefits and executive compensation matters, including fiduciary responsibility and prohibited transactions.
"She is excellent in financial services matters and very knowledgeable about Department of Labor work."

Christine Keller is particularly well known for her expertise in health and welfare plans.
"She knows welfare plans backwards and forwards, so she is able to very quickly turn around and explain the rules relevant to a question in a short time frame." "She is very plugged into the IRS and on top of regulations and guidance." "She is very knowledgeable and has strong expertise and an incredible client manner."

Daniel Hogans frequently assists clients with benefits plan compliance, which includes advising on IRC Section 409A.
"He takes his Treasury experience and leverages that into being able to advise clients on the regulatory processes in a unique way." "He has a really deep understanding of the regulatory provisions."

David Levine wins praise for his technical proficiency in employee benefits and executive compensation matters. He assists clients with all aspects of plan design, compliance and operation.
"He is a real thought leader, incredibly client-focused, and is able to really pull together the strands of the legal issue and lay out an array of options so the client can make a decision."

Gary Ford is a very highly regarded employee benefits lawyer. He has a wealth of experience assisting plan sponsors, fiduciaries and service providers with a wide range of contentious and advisory concerns. His expertise also covers pension plan derisking.

Jennifer Eller has a broad employee benefits practice, which includes advising clients on regulatory investigations and compliance.
"She has a great depth of knowledge and her bedside manner is very strong."

Louis Mazawey enjoys a great reputation for his wide-ranging expertise in employee benefits and compensation. He provides counsel on the design and administration of a broad array of benefits and compensation plans.
"Clients reach out to him on very novel and cutting-edge issues, as he is able to come up with unique and innovative solutions." "He is great to rely on for particularly thorny IRS questions."

Department Information

This content is provided by Groom Law Group, Chartered.

Overview

Groom has been at the forefront of developments in the nation’s benefits, health, and retirement laws since Congress passed ERISA in 1974. With more than 80 attorneys dedicated to the employee benefits practice, Groom offers clients unparalleled coverage of issues and disputes arising from ERISA, the Tax Code, securities laws, ACA, HIPAA, COBRA, ADEA, and the many other laws that govern employee benefits.

Groom’s services include (1) assisting employers with workplace and personnel issues, benefit design, plan funding and restructuring, executive compensation, litigation, and advocacy; (2) counseling managed care organizations, insurance companies, trade associations, and others on a wide range of health and welfare matters, including federal and state health insurance regulation, government programs, privacy and security issues, product design, federal and state audits and investigations, federal and state advocacy, and litigation; and (3) representation of retirement plan sponsors and financial institutions and advisers on matters that include investment of plan assets, IRAs, HSAs, design/delivery of products and services in the retirement plan marketplace, audits and investigations, litigation, and advocacy.

Honors:

2018 Chambers USA Award for Excellence for Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation
Consistently ranked Band 1 for Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation by Chambers USA
Tier 1, Employee benefits & executive compensation – design by Legal 500 US