Hogan & Hartson’s employee benefits and executive compensation practice is recognized for achieving successful solutions for companies and organizations, be they large or small, public or private. Our multidisciplinary team of lawyers has extensive experience not only with ERISA and the federal and state tax laws, but also with SEC and stock exchange requirements, general corporate, tax-exempt, and partnership law requirements, health privacy protections under HIPAA, and labor laws, such as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). We have in-depth knowledge of a variety of industries, including aviation, biotechnology, education, financial services, health care, Internet services and technology, manufacturing, media, real estate, and telecommunications. While the depth and breadth of our experience allow us—in consultation with you—to provide integrated solutions tailored to your organizational and cost constraints, we are equally able to work seamlessly with your accountants, actuaries, consultants and advisors.

We design the full range of benefit programs. Our services include qualified retirement plans, such as unit-benefit pension, cash-balance pension, floor-offset pension, profit sharing, 401(k) and ESOP plans, as well as nonqualified deferred compensation plans, such as executive pensions or SERPs. We also create health and welfare programs, such as flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts and retiree medical plans, and fringe benefit programs, such as cafeteria plans, dependent care assistance plans, pre-tax parking plans, and tuition reimbursement plans. Our practice encompasses design of compensation programs such as long-term and annual performance-based bonus plans, stock option plans and omnibus equity plans, providing for the award of options, bonus and restricted stock and stock units, SARs, dividend equivalent rights, and performance and deferred awards.

The members of our group deliver the sound and resourceful communication, implementation and compliance strategy that must support any design. We can help you master the process-based ERISA fiduciary compliance requirements or implement a nondiscrimination testing methodology that helps you focus resources on valued members of your workforce. When problems arise under health and compensation plans, we routinely guide clients through successful negotiations with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission. We are at the forefront in handling ERISA fiduciary and other forms of benefits litigation.

In transactions such as acquisitions, mergers, and spin-offs, we help assess the compensation and benefits liabilities you face, including for deferred compensation, underfunded pensions, retiree medical, and golden parachute payments. Attorneys in our international offices counsel clients on the application of local government regulations to employee benefit plans and employee compensation matters. U.S. and international partners and associates work closely on cross-border transactions to address the many issues such as data privacy and labor union rules that arise in the international arena.

Our clients range from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups. We also count among our clients pension and welfare benefit plan providers.

Former Leadership Positions

• Current Co-Chairman, Employee Benefits Committee, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law
• Former Co-Chairman, Subcommittee on ERISA Fiduciary Responsibility, Employee Benefits Committee, ABA Section on Labor and Employment
• Board of Editors, Benefits Quarterly, Legal-Regulatory Update
• Editorial Advisory Board, Employee Benefits Counselor
• Board of Senior Editors, Employee Benefits Law (2nd ed. supplements) (BNA Books)
• Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Virgin Islands

• EADS North America NA
• Airbus North America Holdings, Inc.
• Air Transport Association

• Guilford Pharmaceutical Corp.
• Array Biopharma Inc.
• Martek Biosciences Corporation

• Vanderbilt University
• Indiana University

• Janus Capital Group Inc.
• California State Automobile Association Inter-Insurance Bureau

• Advertising.Com Inc.

• Gannett Company, Inc.
• Havas S.A.
• The McClatchy Company
• RFE/RL, Inc. (Radio Free Europe)

• CarrAmerica Realty Corporation
• Interstate Hotels & Resorts
• Sunrise Senior Living
• Thayer Lodging Group Inc.

• ITC Deltacom
• Ciena Corporation