Spencer Fane Employee Benefits attorneys guide public, private, and tax-exempt employers on a smooth path for the life of all types of tax-qualified retirement plans, allowing our clients to create, implement, and operate compliant plans that help employees save for retirement in a tax-advantaged way.
Our attorneys have a long track record of designing, drafting, and maintaining client-appropriate 401(k), profit-sharing, employee stock ownership, pension, and cash balance plans. We help clients with plan interpretation questions, and federal compliance and regulatory needs, and guide them in maintaining ERISA and Tax Code’s requirements. As a full-service firm, our attorneys stand ready to provide employers any type of assistance they need to effectively administer plans while preserving tax-qualified status for employers and employees every step of the way.
Our attorneys also have experience with multiemployer/collectively-bargained plans, 403(b) plans for tax-exempt organizations and public schools, and 457 plans. Our broad experience across industries allows Spencer Fane to offer both individually designed and pre-approved plans that meet the needs of any type of company.
The comprehensive services the Spencer Fane team provides for tax-qualified retirement plans includes guiding clients through potential plan milestones, including amendments, restatements, and mergers. We also help employers obtain IRS determination letters on their qualified status, assist clients with self-audits for tax qualification issues, and conduct fiduciary compliance reviews. We advise clients on the use of qualified plans in early retirement incentive programs, and the fiduciary and prohibited transaction rules imposed by both the Tax Code and ERISA. We regularly help clients correct errors in the administration of their plans, using programs such as the IRS’ Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) and the Department of Labor’s Volunteer Fiduciary Compliance (VFC) and Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance (DFVC) Program.
Our clients range from employers sponsoring qualified retirement plans to third party administrators that provide services to retirement plans. We also work with investment providers and other service providers.
Representative Experience
- Represented three utility entities during their merger, bringing three different qualified retirement plans together as one.
- Represented major academic medical center with design and implementation of a qualified retirement plan for faculty-practice physicians.
- Represented a major insurance company with an IRS Voluntary Compliance Program submission involving the company’s defined benefit plan