John A. Papahronis

Representative Experience

• Counsels public and private companies and governmental entities on the design, drafting and administration of all forms of employee benefits plans, including qualified  retirement plans (pension plans, profit sharing plans, 401(k) plans, cash balance plans, ESOPs and governmental plans), and health and welfare plans (including self-insured medical plans, cafeteria plans, consumer-driven health plans and fringe benefit plans).
• Counsels governmental and tax-exempt employers, including public universities and other institutions of higher education, on all aspects related to the design, structure, implementation, and administration of 403(b) defined contribution plans, 457(b) deferred compensation plans, and defined benefit pension plans.
• Regularly reviews plan documents to ensure regulatory and legal compliance, avoid common and not-so-common errors, and ensure plan language is consistent with how the plan is administered.  Also provides advice and guidance to plan sponsors regarding proposed changes to plan provisions.
• Assists and advises clients, including multiple financial institutions, on a multitude of issues related to employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), including plan design and formation, plan documentation, valuation of shares, transactions, tax issues, fiduciary duties, transactions, IRS and U.S. Department of Labor audits and investigations, and legal compliance with complex ERISA and Internal Revenue Code regulations.
• Assists public universities in the development and implementation of special supplemental retirement plan vehicles designed to attract and retain top administrators and other highly compensated academic and athletic personnel.
• Assists clients in the correction of retirement plan operational errors in accordance with IRS requirements.
• Assists clients with Voluntary Correction Program submissions for qualified retirement plans that have incurred a “qualification” failure.
• Conducts legal plan audits for qualified retirement plans to identify legal risks prior to potential audits by the IRS or the U.S. Department of Labor.
• Counsels and trains plan administrators, investment committees, and other fiduciaries on their roles, duties and responsibilities as a means to reduce plan sponsor liability and improve plan participation and security.
• Represents clients in complex fiduciary responsibility and prohibited transaction matters, both in counseling and litigation.
• Represents clients before governmental agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
• Assists clients in analyzing extensive health plan issues under PPACA, COBRA, HIPAA, GINA, ADA, HITECH and other laws.
• Advises clients on strategies for reducing costs and streamlining the administration of plans.
• Counsels clients on complex employee benefits matters resulting from corporate transactions such as mergers, acquisitions, buyouts, joint ventures, spin-offs and divestitures.