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Gregory L. Ash |
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Partner |
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Overland Park, Kansas |
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Greg is a partner in Spencer Fane’s Overland Park office, where he is a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits Group and Chair of its ERISA Litigation Group. For over 15 years Greg’s practice has focused exclusively on ERISA and other laws governing employee benefits, including matters affecting pension, profit sharing, ESOP, 401(k), executive compensation, and welfare plans. He regularly counsels clients of all sizes – including multiemployer “Taft-Hartley” funds, Fortune 100 corporations, small privately-held employers, and boards of directors – on benefits issues such as executive deferred compensation, plan design and administration, and fiduciary compliance.
401 (k) Fee Litigation Update Center» Read More Greg is a partner in Spencer Fane’s Overland Park office, where he is a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits Group and Chair of its ERISA Litigation Group. For over 15 years Greg’s practice has focused exclusively on ERISA and other laws governing employee benefits, including matters affecting pension, profit sharing, ESOP, 401(k), executive compensation, and welfare plans. He regularly counsels clients of all sizes – including multiemployer “Taft-Hartley” funds, Fortune 100 corporations, small privately-held employers, and boards of directors – on benefits issues such as executive deferred compensation, plan design and administration, and fiduciary compliance.
401 (k) Fee Litigation Update Center» Read Less Greg is a partner in Spencer Fane’s Overland Park office, where he is a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits Group and Chair of its ERISA Litigation Group. For over 15 years Greg’s practice has focused exclusively on ERISA and other laws governing employee benefits, including matters affecting pension, profit sharing, ESOP, 401(k), executive compensation, and welfare plans. He regularly counsels clients of all sizes – including multiemployer “Taft-Hartley” funds, Fortune 100 corporations, small privately-held employers, and boards of directors – on benefits issues such as executive deferred compensation, plan design and administration, and fiduciary compliance.
401 (k) Fee Litigation Update Center |
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Areas of Emphasis |
Employee Benefits Counseling
• Greg is included in the list of The Best Lawyers in America and Kansas and Missouri SuperLawyers for employee benefits.
• Greg was invited to speak to clients of JP Morgan Retirement Plan Services at JPM’s 2006 client conference. He discussed the new rules under Tax Code Section 409A that govern nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, highlighting planning opportunities that sponsors of such arrangements should consider before the end of the year.
• Greg developed a sophisticated plan governance structure for the qualified plans of a Fortune 100 publicly-traded company so as to reduce the risk of ERISA fiduciary liability for its board of directors and officers.... » Read More Employee Benefits Counseling
• Greg is included in the list of The Best Lawyers in America and Kansas and Missouri SuperLawyers for employee benefits.
• Greg was invited to speak to clients of JP Morgan Retirement Plan Services at JPM’s 2006 client conference. He discussed the new rules under Tax Code Section 409A that govern nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, highlighting planning opportunities that sponsors of such arrangements should consider before the end of the year.
• Greg developed a sophisticated plan governance structure for the qualified plans of a Fortune 100 publicly-traded company so as to reduce the risk of ERISA fiduciary liability for its board of directors and officers.
• Coordinating the efforts of other Benefits Group attorneys, Greg conducted a comprehensive review and analysis of the fiduciary processes and procedures used by three multiemployer benefit funds with over $7 billion in assets.
• Shortly after regulatory changes allowed it, Greg helped a publicly-traded company add an ESOP component to its traditional 401(k) plan, allowing the company to claim additional corporate income tax deductions, at the same time that plan participants were given the option of receiving cash distributions of dividends paid on company stock held in the plan.
ERISA Litigation and Litigation Avoidance
• Greg currently advises a number of 401(k) plan service providers and plan sponsors in connection with 401(k) "excessive fee" issues.
• As Chair of Spencer Fane’s ERISA Litigation Group, Greg successfully defeated a class action breach of fiduciary duty claim that was brought against a Fortune 20 client arising out of the Enron bankruptcy, convincing the Federal Court to dismiss the matter before discovery was authorized. Geiler v. Jones, 2006 Westlaw 407683 (D. Neb. Feb. 2, 2006).
• Greg has advised clients with 401(k) plans that hold company stock about their fiduciary risks and obligations in light of recent stock-drop litigation.
• Representing a large 401(k) plan sponsor and its administrative committee in a dispute with service providers following a plan conversion, Greg briefed, argued, and successfully defeated motions to dismiss his clients’ claims filed by the defendants on ERISA preemption grounds, ultimately resulting in a favorable settlement of the claims. Weyerhaeuser v. MFS Retirement Services, No. C03-2968P (W.D. Wash. 2004).
» Read Less Employee Benefits Counseling
• Greg is included in the list of The Best Lawyers in America and Kansas and Missouri SuperLawyers for employee benefits.
• Greg was invited to speak to clients of JP Morgan Retirement Plan Services at JPM’s 2006 client conference. He discussed the new rules under Tax Code Section 409A that govern nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, highlighting planning opportunities that sponsors of such arrangements should consider before the end of the year.
• Greg developed a sophisticated plan governance structure for the qualified plans of a Fortune 100 publicly-traded company so as to reduce the risk of ERISA fiduciary liability for its board of directors and officers.
• Coordinating the efforts of other Benefits Group attorneys, Greg conducted a comprehensive review and analysis of the fiduciary processes and procedures used by three multiemployer benefit funds with over $7 billion in assets.
• Shortly after regulatory changes allowed it, Greg helped a publicly-traded company add an ESOP component to its traditional 401(k) plan, allowing the company to claim additional corporate income tax deductions, at the same time that plan participants were given the option of receiving cash distributions of dividends paid on company stock held in the plan.
ERISA Litigation and Litigation Avoidance
• Greg currently advises a number of 401(k) plan service providers and plan sponsors in connection with 401(k) "excessive fee" issues.
• As Chair of Spencer Fane’s ERISA Litigation Group, Greg successfully defeated a class action breach of fiduciary duty claim that was brought against a Fortune 20 client arising out of the Enron bankruptcy, convincing the Federal Court to dismiss the matter before discovery was authorized. Geiler v. Jones, 2006 Westlaw 407683 (D. Neb. Feb. 2, 2006).
• Greg has advised clients with 401(k) plans that hold company stock about their fiduciary risks and obligations in light of recent stock-drop litigation.
• Representing a large 401(k) plan sponsor and its administrative committee in a dispute with service providers following a plan conversion, Greg briefed, argued, and successfully defeated motions to dismiss his clients’ claims filed by the defendants on ERISA preemption grounds, ultimately resulting in a favorable settlement of the claims. Weyerhaeuser v. MFS Retirement Services, No. C03-2968P (W.D. Wash. 2004).
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Publications |
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Media Appearances |
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Recognized by media sources as an authority on benefit issues, Greg has been quoted extensively in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Forbes, CNBC.com, Entrepreneur Magazine, Plan Sponsor Magazine, Business Finance Magazine, Business Insurance Magazine, and Inside Counsel Magazine. Recognized by media sources as an authority on benefit issues, Greg has been quoted extensively in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Forbes, CNBC.com, Entrepreneur Magazine, Plan Sponsor Magazine, Business Finance Magazine, Business Insurance Magazine, and Inside Counsel Magazine. »Read Less |
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Recognized by media sources as an authority on benefit issues, Greg has been quoted extensively in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Forbes, CNBC.com, Entrepreneur Magazine, Plan Sponsor Magazine, Business Finance Magazine, Business Insurance Magazine, and Inside Counsel Magazine. |
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Speeches and Publications |
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Greg is a frequent lecturer, most recently on issues such as executive compensation and the new Code Section 409A rules governing nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, fiduciary obligations and prohibited transactions, and tax issues arising out of qualified plans. He has published numerous articles on benefits-related issues in publications such as BNA’s Tax Management Insights and Commentary and The Benefits Law Journal, and is the co-author of a chapter on benefits issues in the treatise The Law of Tax Exempt Organizations (8th Ed. Wiley 2003). Greg is a frequent lecturer, most recently on issues such as executive compensation and the new Code Section 409A rules governing nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, fiduciary obligations and prohibited transactions, and tax issues arising out of qualified plans. He has published numerous articles on benefits-related issues in publications such as BNA’s Tax Management Insights and Commentary and The Benefits Law Journal, and is the co-author of a chapter on benefits issues in the treatise The Law of Tax Exempt Organizations (8th Ed. Wiley 2003). »Read Less |
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Greg is a frequent lecturer, most recently on issues such as executive compensation and the new Code Section 409A rules governing nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, fiduciary obligations and prohibited transactions, and tax issues arising out of qualified plans. He has published numerous articles on benefits-related issues in publications such as BNA’s Tax Management Insights and Commentary and The Benefits Law Journal, and is the co-author of a chapter on benefits issues in the treatise The Law of Tax Exempt Organizations (8th Ed. Wiley 2003). |
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Professional Associations and Memberships |
- American Bar Association
- Kansas Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- Kansas Bar Association
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- American Bar Association
- Kansas Bar Association
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Blog |
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