Member

Representative Matters

Provides day-to-day advice to all sizes and types of employers, including publicly traded entities, non-profit entities and governmental employers, on all aspects of employee benefits, including qualified plans and 401(k) plans, executive compensation, welfare benefits, and equity arrangements.  Key among these recently were the following projects:

• Organized and performed review of stock option grants to employees over a five-year period for a large publicly-traded client to determine existence and scope of any improper "backdating" of options, and advised client on correction of same to comply with applicable laws.
• Performed review of, and drafted revisions to, all deferred compensation arrangements subject to Internal Revenue Code Section 409A for many clients with multiple deferral programs, including severance plans and employment agreements with deferral features.
• Assisted rapidly growing large client with integration of employees and employee benefits (including plan mergers and plan terminations) involving over 3,000 employees acquired as a result of six corporate acquisitions during one 12-month period. 
• Advised several publicly traded clients on issues involving 401(k) plans with contributions invested in employer securities, and recommended and implemented changes to such plans to reduce fiduciary liability of employer.
• Advised on and handled multiple filings to obtain IRS approval of correction of errors discovered in several qualified retirement plans, including discrimination testing failures, enrollment errors, loan default errors, and the like.

Professional Activities

• Member, ESOP Association, Western Pension & Benefits Conference, National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, American Bar Association (Tax Section), Colorado Bar Association (Tax Section)
• Member, American Bar Association House of Delegates (Colorado State Delegate from 2000-2009)
• Member, Denver Bar Association Board of Trustees, 1992-1993 and 1997-1998
• Member, Board of Directors of the Colorado Women's Bar Association, 1989-1990, 1995-1996, 1997-1998

Education

• Juris Doctor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law, 1988
  
  • Staff, Tax Law Journal
• Bachelor of Arts in Accounting, Regis College, 1982

Honors and Awards

• Denver Bar Association Young Lawyer of the Year Award, 1994
• Ranked #1 in Chambers USA for Employee Benefits Law
• Recognized in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 editions of The Best Lawyers in America for Employee Benefits
• Recognized as a Super Lawyer in the area of Employee Benefits for 2009