Employers, plan sponsors and fiduciaries face increasing scrutiny and complex compliance obligations in administering employee benefits and retirement plans. Baker Botts advises on ERISA compliance, plan design and administration, fiduciary responsibilities, plan corrections, and matters involving the Department of Labor (DOL), the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Our advocacy and leadership roles in benefits-related organizations, along with our experience with regulators, enable us to provide timely advice grounded in current “real-world” issues and developments. Our lawyers are active participants and leaders in the substantive work of the American Bar Association (ABA). We regularly participate in the ABA JCEB government invitational and other ABA meetings with regulators, including the IRS, DOL and SEC. Additionally, Baker Botts Senior Counsel Gail Stewart is a fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel and Partner Dario Mendoza is the Vice Chair of the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Section of the Dallas Bar Association. We frequently have spoken and provided presentations and comments for these organizations on various regulatory and litigation matters impacting employee benefits.
We advise employers on the full spectrum of qualified and nonqualified employee benefit matters, helping them navigate complex legal, regulatory and business considerations at every stage of the plan lifecycle. From plan design and governance to compliance, administration and dispute resolution, we provide strategic counsel tailored to each client’s objectives.
Our clients range from privately held companies to publicly traded, multinational organizations, multiemployer plans, and tax-exempt entities, and we bring a practical, business-focused approach to helping them manage risk, meet evolving obligations, and support their workforce and leadership goals. Our employee benefits and ERISA lawyers tailor their approach to each client's specific needs, considering the unique circumstances and types of benefit programs involved.
Our employee benefits lawyers provide ongoing, day-to-day counseling and work closely with clients to ensure compliance and stay ahead of regulatory changes and step in to address problems as they arise. Our work spans the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, HIPAA, ACA, COBRA, the Mental Health Parity Act, USERRA, Medicare laws, related employment and labor laws, and other laws impacting benefit plans.
We regularly represent clients in IRS employee plan examinations and Department of Labor audits and investigations, and we advise on PBGC reportable events and related issues. As regulatory requirements continue to increase and evolve, we provide proactive guidance on developments affecting retirement plans, enabling clients to address risk early, implement required changes efficiently, and support participants and internal stakeholders with clear, actionable counsel.
Our practice addresses benefits issues on both sides of a deal. This includes integrating benefit plans post-Closing and analyzing severance arrangements. We have extensive experience in integrated benefits post-closing between buyer and seller, including terminating seller’s 401(k) plans and transferring or rolling over assets and plan loans to buyer’s 401(k) plan; advising companies in complex spin-offs including allocating company stock within benefit plans among the old and new plan sponsors; managing risk on assuming defined benefit pension liabilities; allocating COBRA liabilities among buyer and seller; and creatively navigating MEWA issues for post-closing transition healthcare coverage.
