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Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
Lathrop & Gage L.C. provides a full range of legal services to public, private and tax-exempt employers with respect to the design, drafting, qualification and operation of retirement and other employee benefit plans and compensation arrangements. Our practice also includes the representation of clients in benefits litigation and in administrative proceedings before the U.S. Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service and the PBGC.
Our group is strong and deep, designed to provide practical and creative solutions in a timely and efficient manner. Various members of our group have been included in the Best Lawyers in America, Chambers, Missouri Super Lawyers and Best of the Bar.
Our group can assist you in selecting the type of retirement plan that is right for you.
We design and draft retirement plans of all varieties for business clients (e.g., defined benefit, 401(k), profit sharing, ESOPs and stock bonus plans), obtain favorable IRS determinations in connection with their qualification and provide advice with respect to amendments necessitated by periodic changes in the law. We also assist non-profit and governmental clients with regard to 403(b) annuity plans and 457 plans. A significant part of our practice also involves various types of nonqualified deferred compensation agreements and executive compensation, including incentive stock options, nonqualified stock options, restricted stock, phantom stock, stock appreciation rights, employee stock purchase plans and other equity and non-stock incentive arrangements. We are deeply familiar with the rules of Internal Revenue Code Section 409A pertaining to nonqualified defined compensation, the rules of Section 83 pertaining to the transfer of property in connection with the performance of services and the parachute payment rules.
In non-pension areas, we help clients maintain their group health, life, disability and other insured and noninsured welfare plans in compliance with ERISA, the Tax Code, HIPAA, COBRA and other applicable laws and regulations. We draft 501(c)(9) trusts to fund self-insured plans and cafeteria/flexible benefit plans to take advantage of available tax benefits. We draft and/or review benefit summaries, summary plan descriptions, employee handbooks and help with all aspects of employee communications.
Other aspects of our employee benefit matters include (i) negotiating voluntary corrections and audit-related settlements with the IRS; (ii) reviewing qualified domestic relations orders (QDROs) and qualified medical child support orders (QMCSOs) to ensure compliance with ERISA and Code requirements; and (iii) handling pension and non-pension benefit claims (e.g., complying with internal review procedures, pursuing plans’ subrogation rights and assisting with document interpretation).
Our goal is to provide practical “can do” solutions communicated timely and plainly. Where appropriate, we utilize a team approach, calling upon the firm’s expertise in other specialty areas to solve multidisciplinary issues working with a client's other advisors to get the job done.
Through our representation of large, publicly traded and private employers, we have come to recognize special benefit issues relating to multiple locations and multistate operations; the employee benefit consequences of mergers, acquisitions and spin-offs; designing voluntary or involuntary reductions in force; financial reporting issues; and other tax and benefits issues unique to businesses that operate on a regional, national or international scale. In our representation of small- and medium-sized growing businesses, we have developed cost-effective approaches to benefits planning. We don’t “reinvent the wheel.” We seek to provide prompt, understandable advice that addresses our clients’ needs.
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