Kathleen Cahill Slaught
Kathleen advises trustees, service providers and administrators of governmental and multi-employer benefit funds on all issues including pension plan design and administration, investment of plan assets, the qualification of state domestic relations orders, drafting plan documents and general compliance with ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, federal labor law and other laws affecting pension funds. She also advises companies on both qualified retirement plan and welfare plan design and technical compliance. She also has substantial experience representing welfare plans and ERISA plan administrators in all aspects of litigation and arbitration arising from disputes over welfare benefits and fiduciary claims. She is a member of the American Bar Association (Labor & Employment section), Bar Association of San Francisco (Employee Benefits section), and the Western Pension Benefits Committee.
Ben Conley
Ben counsels clients on qualified retirement plans, health and welfare plans, and executive compensation. He regularly advises clients on defined benefit and defined contribution plan compliance, including corrections for plan operational errors. Ben assists clients in drafting plan documents, plan amendments, and participant communications. He also advises clients on health & welfare plan compliance, including medical and dental plans, cafeteria plans, flexible spending accounts and dependent care spending accounts. Ben counsels clients on plan design decisions relating to COBRA, HIPAA privacy regulations, and health care reform legislation.
Justin T. Curley
Justin focuses his practice on employment litigation, with a particular emphasis on wage and hour and ERISA class action litigation. He also handles claims for discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, as well as employment-related tort and contract claims. Prior to joining the firm, Justin served as a law clerk to the Honorable James P. Donohue of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Prior to law school, he earned his CPA license as a financial auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Liz Deckman
Liz specializes in the design and implementation of a wide range of tax-qualified retirement plans and trusts, including Section 401(k), profit sharing, money purchase, cash balance, and defined benefit plans. She also adeptly drafts and implements health and welfare plans, providing counsel to employers on various issues such as COBRA, health care reform, and fiduciary matters. Additionally, Liz offers her expertise in deferred compensation and IRC Section 409A. Her work encompasses addressing the effects of new legislation on plans, ensuring compliance with nondiscriminatory coverage and contribution requirements, managing benefit limitations, overseeing plan defect-correction programs and terminations, and facilitating early-retirement window benefits. Liz further supports clients in navigating the employee benefits landscape during mergers and acquisitions.
Ada Dolph
Ada represents clients in a wide range of labor and employment matters, with an emphasis on employment discrimination and ERISA litigation. Ada regularly counsels and defends clients in single and multi-plaintiff employment discrimination matters involving claims brought under state law, Title VII, ADA, Section 1981, ADEA, FMLA and involving the Railway Labor Act (RLA). Ada works with clients to advise them in employment disputes, position themselves for anticipated litigation, and vigorously and efficiently defend against investigations, charges and lawsuits. She has defended employment discrimination matters brought in local, state and federal agencies, state and federal courts, and against the EEOC.
Diane Dygert
Diane is chair of Seyfarth’s national Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Department, and has spent more than 30 years focused on the rules and regulations of employee benefits. Diane has a great deal of expertise in the health and welfare space, where she has counseled and trained clients extensively on HIPAA privacy compliance, health care reform, and wellness programs, including implementing compliant plans and policies. Diane’s focus on executive compensation matters includes employment and severance agreements, stock options, restricted stock, and performance-based compensation, as well as the international aspects of employee benefits issues. She works with clients on establishing and conducting appropriate benefits governance and fiduciary compliance processes—critically important in this era of intense scrutiny.
Amanda Genovese
Amanda is an effective litigator who represents several of the nation’s largest companies in complex disputes. As lead outside counsel for ERISA and healthcare litigation, Amanda has successfully defended insurers, plan administrators, employers, and managed care organizations against class and individual claims. Amanda has delivered excellent results for clients embroiled in high-stakes reimbursement and network agreement disputes—obtaining dozens of dismissals by dispositive motions and aggressively steering cases to favorable settlements. She also has substantial experience in matters involving improper reimbursement/billing, federal and state fraud and abuse laws, and the Mental Health Parity Act.
Jonathan Karelitz
Jon collaborates with his clients to craft practical solutions to strategic and operational challenges regarding retirement plans, group health plans, and executive compensation arrangements. He also helps clients implement and administer pension and 401(k) plans. Jon also advises clients on the effects of reductions-in-force, spin-offs and other corporate events on existing retirement plans. He routinely assists clients with the correction of plan operational errors, and has represented clients in numerous IRS and DOL audits. In addition, Jon advises investment committees and plan fiduciaries on the legal implications of all types of managed investments and financial instruments. He also helps plan administrators respond to participant claims and appeals, and uses project management tools and technology to efficiently manage high-volume claim loads.
Ian Morrison
Ian focuses his practice on representing employers, plan sponsors, employee benefit plans, and fiduciaries in litigation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and related laws. Ian also co-chairs the firm’s national ERISA Litigation Practice Group. He has represented employers, employee benefit plans, and fiduciaries in court litigation and arbitration, including trials and appeals. His ERISA and employee benefits litigation experience includes defense of claims for benefits, breach of fiduciary duty claims, reporting and disclosure claims, severance pay and stock option claims, and ERISA Section 510 employment discrimination claims.
John Murray
John is partner in the firm’s ERISA Litigation practice group. John has extensive experience defending plan sponsors, employee benefit plans, and plan fiduciaries in ERISA litigation matters, ranging from complex multi-district litigation and class actions to single-plaintiff cases in both the trial and appellate courts. He has successfully defended “stock drop” fiduciary actions, employee benefits discrimination and interference claims, and claims for benefits under virtually every kind of employee benefit plan including claims for severance, pensions, disability, and medical benefits, and claims under top hat plans. In addition, he frequently counsels clients on ERISA-related matters.
Caroline Pieper
Caroline focuses on health and welfare benefit plans, ancillary benefits, and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and health data privacy compliance matters. Not only does she handle legal matters for both fully insured and self-funded plans, she also routinely manages plan administration, design, documentation, and implementation for both single employer and multiemployer plans. Caroline assists in drafting, revising, and negotiating service provider agreements; ensuring disclosure and reporting compliance to government agencies and individuals; performing fiduciary training; and facilitating both internal and external audits of benefit plans.
Kelly Rourke
Kelly advises clients on all matters pertaining to defined contribution and defined benefit plan compliance. She also counsels clients on health and welfare issues including Affordable Care Act and COBRA compliance and HIPAA privacy regulations. She assists clients in drafting plan documents, plan amendments and participant communication materials, and has experience resolving plan document and operational errors under the IRS’s correction program.
Richard G. Schwartz
Richard has one of the legal industry’s premier practices focusing on benefits work for health sector clients. His practice involves all aspects of employee benefits law, including qualified and non-qualified plan design, deferred and executive compensation, corrections under the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor correction programs, plan governance and fiduciary best practices, dealings with the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor, and day-to-day employee benefits advice and counsel. A significant part of his practice involves the special tax and ERISA rules that apply to tax-exempt, non-profit organizations. Moreover, he handles transactional due diligence as well as all aspects of plan integration following mergers and acquisitions.
Sam Schwartz-Fenwick
Sam is a partner in the Labor and Employment practice group. He is particularly well-versed in benefits-related litigation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Sam defends complex class actions and single-plaintiff lawsuits under ERISA. In the class action realm, he has defended various types of claims, including claims for benefits and claims for breach of fiduciary duty, including 401(k) fee litigation.
Brian Stolzenbach
Brian defends complex class actions and single-plaintiff lawsuits under ERISA. In the class action realm, he has defended various types of claims, including claims for benefits, claims of employment discrimination, and claims for breach of fiduciary duty, including 401(k) “stock-drop” claims. Brian also counsels clients on employee benefits matters, including the termination and modification of pension benefits and retiree medical benefits in both union and non-union workplaces, and he represents clients in connection with investigations by U.S. Department of Labor into alleged ERISA violations.
Sarah Touzalin
Sarah practices in all aspects of employee benefit plans, with a primary focus on matters involving defined contribution plans. Sarah has assisted plan sponsors with qualified plan design issues, compliance review, the preparation of participant communication materials, and with reporting and withholding requirements. She also has extensive experience working with plan sponsors and the IRS to resolve plan document and operational errors under the IRS’s correction program.