Annual Advanced ALI-ABA Course of Study
What You Will Learn
Explore the latest developments in compensation plans with the experts, including changes from a new administration and the financial crisis!
This annual advanced course of study examines the most important aspects of pension, profit-sharing, welfare, and other compensation plans, including recent developments in litigation, legislation, and federal regulations, enforcement, and guidance. Top private practitioners, other benefits specialists, and government speakers provide their insights on the latest issues, and will be available to answer your most pressing questions throughout the program. The discussions throughout the course are transactional, dealing with “how to do it” and not offering merely an explanation of the law itself. A reception following the conclusion of Wednesday’s program provides additional networking opportunities.
Featured government panels include:
A full morning discussing current guidance and other issues from the Internal Revenue Service, the new Congress, and the Obama administration
Updates on Section 409A, 457A, and 403(b)
Other topics include:
"Automating” the defined contribution plan
Health care legislation and benefits outside of executive compensation
Qualified plans in troubled times
Department of Labor regulatory update
EPCRS
Designing plans for small businesses and sole proprietorships
Fiduciaries and the current economy
Cafeteria plans
Covering expatriate employees
Ethical issues
Planning Chairs
(also on faculty)
Pamela Baker, Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal LLP, Chicago
William F. Sweetnam, Groom Law Group, Washington, D.C.; former Benefits Tax Counsel, U.S. Department of the Treasury
PLANNING CHAIR EMERITUS
Mervin M. Wilf, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Cambridge, Massachusetts
Faculty
FROM THE GOVERNMENT
Avaneesh Bhagat, Program Coordinator, Employee Plans Voluntary Compliance, Tax Exempt and Government Entities, Internal Revenue Service, Laguna Niguel, California
James E. Holland, Jr., A.S.A., E.A., Assistant Director, Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, D.C.
William C. Schmidt, Executive Compensation Branch, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, D.C.
Alan N. Tawshunsky, Deputy Division Counsel/Deputy Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits), Tax Exempt and Government Entities, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, D.C.
PRIVATE PRACTITIONERS AND BENEFITS SPECIALISTS
Gregory C. Braden, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Washington, D.C.
T. David Cowart, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, Dallas
Jenny Eller, Groom Law Group, Washington, D.C.
David W. Ellis, Baker & McKenzie LLP, Chicago
Evan B. Giller, Giller & Calhoun, LLC, New York
Sandra R. McCandless, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, San Francisco
Frank Palmieri, Palmieri & Eisenberg, Princeton, New Jersey
Pamela D. Perdue, Summers, Compton, Wells and Hamburg, P.C., St. Louis
Bruce J. Temkin, The Temkin Group, Brentwood, Tennessee
Seth H. Tievsky, Seth H. Tievsky PLLC, Washington, D.C.
Robert J. Toth, Jr., Of Counsel, Giller & Calhoun, LLC, Ft. Wayne, Indiana
John L. Utz, Utz Miller Kuhn & Eickman LLC, Overland Park, Kansas
ALI-ABA Staff Attorney: Amy S. Weinberg, Assistant Director, Office of Courses of Study
NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
Networking is an important reason to attend this and every other ALI-ABA course of study. The registrants for last year's presentation of this course came from 35 states!
Program Schedule
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
8:00 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast
WEBCAST SEGMENT A
9:00 a.m. Introductory Remarks - Mr. Sweetnam
9:15 a.m. Annual Litigation Update: What a Year! - Part I – Mr. Braden
10:00 a.m. Fiduciaries and the Current Economy - Mr. Cowart
10:45 a.m. Networking Break
11:00 a.m. Ethical Issues in Benefits Practice – Mr. Utz
12:00 noon Questions and Answers
12:30 p.m. Lunch Break
WEBCAST SEGMENT B
1:45 p.m. Annual Litigation Update: What a Year! - Part II – Mr. Braden
2:30 p.m. Networking Break
2:45 p.m. Department of Labor Regulatory Update – Mr. Cowart
4:15 p.m. Questions and Answers
4:45 p.m. Adjournment for the Day; Networking Reception for Registrants and Faculty
Thursday, March 19, 2009
8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
WEBCAST SEGMENT C
8:30 a.m. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) - Ms. Baker and Mr. Sweetnam
9:00 a.m. What's on the Horizon with the New Congress and Obama Administration - Mr. Sweetnam
9:45 a.m. Networking Break
10:00 a.m. Current Internal Revenue Service Guidance and Issues – Messrs. Holland, Sweetnam, and Tawshunsky
12:00 noon Questions and Answers
12:30 p.m. Lunch Break
WEBCAST SEGMENT D
2:00 p.m. Over the Hump: Getting Through the Transition Period under the New 403(b) Regulations - Messrs. Giller and Toth
2:45 p.m. 457A and 409A Regulatory Update – Ms. Baker and Messrs. Schmidt, Sweetnam, and Tawshunksy
3:30 p.m. Networking Break
3:45 p.m. Qualified Plans in Troubled Times – Ms. Eller and Mr. Sweetnam
4:30 p.m. Drafting and Administering Plans with an Eye Towards Avoiding or Winning Litigation – Ms. Perdue
5:15 p.m. Questions and Answers
5:45 p.m. Adjournment for the Day
Friday, March 20, 2009
8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
WEBCAST SEGMENT E
8:30 a.m. Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) – Messrs. Bhagat and Tievsky
9:30 a.m. Networking Break
9:45 a.m. Health Care Legislation and Benefits Outside of Executive Compensation - Messrs. Palmieri and Sweetnam
10:30 a.m. Issues and Concerns in "Automating" the Defined Contribution Plan: 404(c), Auto Enrollment, and QDIA - Ms. Perdue
11:15 a.m. Questions and Answers
11:45 a.m. Lunch Break
WEBCAST SEGMENT F
1:00 p.m. Cafeteria Plans - Mr. Palmieri
1:45 p.m. Covering Expatriate Employees in Qualified Plans (both inbound and outbound) - Mr. Ellis
2:30 p.m. Networking Break
2:45 p.m. Designing Plans for Small Businesses and Sole Proprietorships - Mr. Temkin
3:30 p.m. Planning for Workforce Separations in a Down Economy: What a Benefits Lawyer Should Know - Ms. McCandless
4:15 p.m. Questions and Answers
4:45 p.m. Adjournment
Total 60-minute hours of instruction: 20, including one hour of ethics
Suggested Prerequisite: Substantial experience in legal practice in subject matter
Educational Objective: Development of proficiency in performance of intricate and complex legal tasks within a narrow area
Level of Instruction: Advanced
Here's what registrants have said about this course:
"The new team of chairpersons have done an admirable, excellent, conscientious job…I was pleasantly surprised by how useful and well-planned this program was. My kudos and thanks to them. Pam Baker and Bill Sweetnam – bravo!” – Oct. 2008 registrant
"Pam Perdue – as usual, always a top presenter and right on the money about the issues.” – Oct. 2008 registrant
“Well done course overall. I’ve been away from serving as an ERISA attorney for four years and am coming back to the field. This course brought me up to date focusing on the latest issues with employee benefits." – Oct. 2008 registrant
"Excellent background. EPCRS, 403(b), and both IRS and DOL updates were worth the price of admission.” – Robert B. Jones, Innovative Compensation and Benefits Concepts, Bryn Mawr, PA
“This is a wonderful course that I try to attend annually.” – Oct. 2008 registrant
“Great facility and location; a well-run CLE. [This is the] third ALI-ABA course I have attended, and all have been excellent.” – Oct. 2008 registrant
"This is the most comprehensive and useful employee benefits seminar available. The speakers are well prepared to address nuances and practical problems rather than just basic technical requirements. The time spent at the conference is well worth it." - Heidi Alessi, K&L Gates, Seattle
"I have been attending this course for 25 years. It is consistently the best high level course presented on pensions issues. Hearing and meeting the IRS and DOL representatives provides invaluable insights into current pensions issues." - Richard Naegele, Wickens, Herzer, Panza, Cook & Batista Co., Avon, Ohio
"The coverage of HSAs in a 'pension' course was excellent. My practice crosses into welfare plans and Ms. Cowart's insight into HSAs saved me many hours of research." - Avery Chenin, National City Co., Cleveland
