Focus Areas
Retirement Plans
- Creation, maintenance and termination of tax-qualified retirement plans (e.g., traditional defined benefit plans, cash balance pension plans, profit sharing plans and 401(k) plans)
- Nondiscrimination requirements (coverage, general nondiscrimination, ADP, ACP and top-heavy requirements)
- Disclosure and reporting requirements (e.g., Form 5500, summary plan descriptions, summary annual reports, participant fee disclosures and 408(b)(2) disclosures)
- Determination letter submissions
- Correction of plan errors through IRS and DOL correction programs
- ERISA fiduciary responsibilities and compliance, including design and implementation of committee structures and processes
- ERISA bonding requirements
- Prohibited transactions and exemptions
- DOL/IRS/PBGC audits and other compliance checks
- ERISA compliance for investment advisers/investment managers
Health & Welfare Benefit Plans
- The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), “Obamacare” or Health Care Reform) including:
- Grandfathered plan status and compliance
- Plan design requirements (e.g., prohibition on annual and lifetime limits, elimination of preexisting condition exclusions, preventive care requirements, provision of essential health benefits)
- Employer pay-or-play (shared responsibility) obligations
- Individual mandate obligations
- Disclosure and reporting requirements (SBCs, Marketplace Notices, employee communications)
- Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute (PCORI) and transitional reinsurance fees
- HIPAA privacy and security compliance
- Business associate agreements
- Notices of privacy practices, privacy policies and procedures, security policies and procedures, conforming plan amendments and other supporting documentation
- Wellness program design and compliance
- COBRA and state mini-COBRA compliance
- Cafeteria plan design and compliance
Miscellaneous
- Employee benefits issues in mergers and acquisitions
- Mergers of qualified plans
- Controlled group and affiliated service group analysis
- Service agreements and related matters
- “District Court Blocks DOL Investment Advice Rule – For Now,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, July 2024
- “U.S. Department of Labor Finalizes Major Changes to Its Fiduciary Investment Advice Rule,” Benefits Law Journal, June 2024
- “DOL Again Enters the Investment Advice Fray With Proposed Retirement Security Rule,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, November 2023
- “DOL Issues Much-Anticipated Retirement Plan Cybersecurity Guidance,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Update, April 2021
- Quoted, “Sponsors Should Have a Plan in the Event of a Cyberattack,” PlanSponsor, March 2021
- “DOL Prohibited Transaction Exemption for Participant Investment Advice Passes Review,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, February 2021
- “What’s Old Is New Again: DOL Reinterprets Five-Part Investment Advice Test,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, February 2021
- “DOL Final Rule on Fiduciaries’ Exercise of Proxy Voting and Shareholder Rights,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, January 2021
- “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021: Implications for Business,” Thompson Hine COVID-19 Update, December 30, 2020
- Co-author, “COVID-19 Relief Bill – The Impact on Employers and Employees,” Thompson Hine COVID-19 Update, December 2020
- Co-author, “DOL Final Rule for Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, December 2020
- Co-author, “DOL Issues Interim Final Rule Implementing SECURE Act Requirements for Lifetime Benefit Illustrations,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Update, September 2020
- Author, “Retirement and Pension Plan Administration, Fiduciary Standards: Overview,” Bloomberg Law, August 2020
- Co-author, “DOL Proposes Broad New Fiduciary Investment Advice Exemption,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Update, July 2020
- Co-author, “DOL Releases Proposed Rule for Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Update, July 2020
- Co-author, “Adviser: 401(k) plans aren’t immune to COVID-19,” Crain’s Cleveland Business, April 4, 2020
- Author, “Benefits Trends: Student Loan Repayment Programs,” Thompson Hine Business Law Update, Winter 2019
- Author, “Fifth Circuit Vacates DOL Fiduciary Rule,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits & Investment Management Update, March 2018
- Author, “The Final Fiduciary Rule – Employer Considerations,” Thompson Hine The Law@Work Newsletter, Summer 2016
- Author, “The Final Fiduciary Rule – Employer Considerations,” Thompson Hine Business Law Update, Summer 2016
- Author, “Your Retirement Plan: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You,” Thompson Hine Business Law Update, Spring 2016
- Co-author, “The DOL’s Final Fiduciary Rule Released: Plan Sponsor’s Perspective,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, April 2016
- Co-author, “How Similar Is Too Similar? The Ninth Circuit’s Take on Successor Multiemployer Pension Plan Withdrawal Liability in the Building & Construction Industry,” Thompson Hine Business Law Update, Fall 2015
- Contributor, “Affordable Care Act,” Columbus CEO, November 2013
- Co-author, “Private Equity Funds May Face ERISA Liability,” Thompson Hine Investment Management Update, September 2013
- Author, “Are ERISA Budgets Plan Assets? The DOL Sheds Some Light,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, July 2013
- Author, “New Retirement Plan Disclosures – Are You Ready?,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits & Investment Management Update, July 2011
- “Navigating the Future: Fiduciary Obligations in Health and Welfare Plans – Fiduciary Deep Dive – Part 1,” Thompson Hine webinar, April 2024
- “Review & Preview: 2023 and 2024,” Thompson Hine SECURE 2.0 Deep Dive webinar, November 2023
- “Rethinking the Match: Student Loan Repayments,” Thompson Hine SECURE 2.0 Deep Dive webinar, June 28, 2023
- Presenter, “ERISA’s Five-Part Investment Advice Test – The DOL Changes Course,” Thompson Hine Investment Management Coffee Chat webinar, April 21, 2021
- Presenter, “R.I.P. ESG? Implications of Recent ERISA Guidance on ESG Investing,” Thompson Hine Investment Management Coffee Chat webinar, March 24, 2021
- Monthly speaker/participant, Columbus and Dayton Health Care Reform Roundtables sponsored by Thompson Hine and Chelko Consulting
- “Employee Benefits Update,” Ohio Human Resources Association, Fall 2013
- “Health Care Reform Update,” October 2013
- “Wellness Programs: Complying with the HIPAA Final Regulations on Nondiscriminatory Wellness Programs,” Anthem Pathways to Health Seminar; September 2013
- “Employee Benefits Update,” Ohio Human Resources Association, Spring 2013
- “GBQuarterly: Health Check 2014,” presentation on pay-or-play, March 2013
- “Retirement Plans Update,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Breakfast Briefing (Columbus and Dayton), March 2013
- “Health Care Reform 101: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” The Conway Center for Family Business, February 2013
- Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2021-2025 for Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
- Named in The Legal 500, 2019
- Outstanding Lawyer, Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project, 2003
- AV® Preeminent Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
Professional Associations
- ASPPA Benefits Council of Central Ohio, president and board member
- Columbus Bar Association, Employee Benefits Committee member
- Dayton Bar Association Employee Benefits Committee, past chair
Community Activities
- Leadership Columbus, Class of 2014
- Pelotonia participant, 2013, 2014
- Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project, past volunteer
Education
- The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law, J.D., 1998, with honors,
Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution
- Muskingum College, B.A., 1995, summa cum laude
Bar Admissions
- Ohio
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- District Court Blocks DOL Investment Advice Rule – For Now,
Employee Benefits Update
, July 26, 2024 - U.S. Department of Labor Finalizes Major Changes to Its Fiduciary Investment Advice Rule,
Benefits Law Journal
, June 21, 2024 - U.S. DOL Finalizes Major Changes to its Fiduciary Investment Advice Rule,
Employee Benefits Update
, May 1, 2024 - DOL Again Enters the Investment Advice Fray With Proposed Retirement Security Rule,
Employee Benefits Update
, November 14, 2023 - DOL Issues Much-Anticipated Cybersecurity Guidance,
Employee Benefits Update
, April 26, 2021 - Sponsors Should Have a Plan in the Event of a Cyberattack,
PlanSponsor
, March 22, 2021 - DOL Prohibited Transaction Exemption for Participant Investment Advice Passes Review,
Employee Benefits Update
, February 16, 2021 - What’s Old Is New Again: DOL Reinterprets Five-Part Investment Advice Test,
Employee Benefits Update
, February 2, 2021 - DOL Final Rule on Fiduciaries’ Exercise of Proxy Voting and Shareholder Rights,
Employee Benefits Update
, January 29, 2021 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021: Implications for Business,
COVID-19 Update
, December 30, 2020