31st Annual Employee Benefits Seminar

Program Highlights
Locke Lord Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group hosted its 31st Annual Employee Benefits Seminar.  Our attorneys provided an overview of current developments related to employee benefit plans.  

7:30 am - 12:30 pm (Central)
Registration and Continental Breakfast: 7:30 a.m.
Introduction and Program: 8:20 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. 

This complimentary program will be presented from our Dallas office and via webinar.

Locke Lord LLP
2200 Ross Avenue 
38th Floor Conference Center
Dallas, Texas
(Parking validation provided) 

The subjects to be covered include:

• Group health plan and 401(k) benefit update, including recent issues involving group health plans, cross-plan offsets, challenges to the ACA, changes in the law affecting retirement plans, updates to the EPCRS program, and expansion of the determination letter program
• Workplace privacy “hot” topics, including the nationwide trend of states enacting legislation to govern the privacy and security of personally identifiable information (PII), the California Consumer Privacy Act, the New York SHIELD Act, and best practices for a privacy compliance program
• Plan investigations and other enforcement actions, including the different forms an investigation or other enforcement action can take, best practices that should be followed before, during & after an investigation, and what to expect when facing an investigation

Who Should Attend
CEOs, CFOs, CHROs, COOs, In-House Counsel, Employee Benefits and Human Resources Managers and other compliance officers interested in the latest issues related to benefits. 

Panelists
E. Philip Bush (Dallas, Partner - Moderator): Phil has been helping businesses understand and comply with the complex laws governing employee benefit plans and executive incentive programs for over 25 years. He has extensive experience in dealing with the IRS and the Department of Labor and resolving plan compliance issues.

Lori A. Basilico (Providence, Partner): Lori represents and advises private and publicly held clients with respect to the design and legal compliance of executive compensation programs, equity-based incentive compensation plans, severance and retention plans, tax-qualified plans, welfare plans, fringe benefit plans and ERISA fiduciary and prohibited transaction issues. She also counsels clients regarding compliance with ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA and other federal and state laws impacting employee benefit plans.

Laura L. Ferguson (Houston, Partner): Laura has experience in drafting equity compensation plans, deferred compensation plans and employment agreements, ensuring compliance with various laws, including Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code. From a mergers and acquisitions perspective, she regularly works on employee benefits and executive compensation matters arising from transactions, including negotiating purchase agreements, navigating diligence issues (such as Code Sections 409A and 280G issues), drafting transition services agreements, and assisting with a variety of compensation agreements (e.g., transaction bonus, equity, employment, and retention agreements).

Paul G. Nason  (Dallas, Partner): Paul has focused his entire career on employment and labor law and litigation. For more than 25 years, he has exclusively represented national, regional and local employers and management in state and federal court cases involving employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, wage and hour, breach-of-contract, employment torts, and unfair competition matters. He also counsels employers on compliance with state and federal employment and labor laws, including providing daily advice and counsel to human resources, legal, and executive personnel on employee discipline and termination matters. Mr. Nason has also conducted numerous wage and hour audits for employers in various industries.

Edward A. Razim, III  (Houston, Partner): Ed has extensive experience in employee benefits and executive compensation, including drafting and implementing employee benefit and executive compensation programs for large and small employers; addressing compliance issues regarding Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code and various equity compensation plan design matters. Mr. Razim has experience negotiating with the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of Labor and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation on a variety of audit and compliance matters.

CLE, CPE & HRCI
This program has been approved for CLE, CPE & HRCI credit.  Information will be available at the program location.

Questions
For more information, please contact Katie Fulton.