John A. Papahronis

Shareholder

Bio Menu
  • Overview
  • Experience
  • Honors & Involvement
Bio overview

John Papahronis is a shareholder at McAfee & Taft. He is an ERISA attorney whose practice encompasses the entire range of employee benefit services, including qualified retirement plans, health and welfare plans, legal compliance, and fiduciary counseling. He has particular and extensive experience working with defined benefit pension plans and employer stock ownership plans. In addition, his expertise includes counseling employers on health and welfare plan matters, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly referred to as health care reform, COBRA, HIPAA and cafeteria plans.

John provides services to both taxable and nontaxable employers and has particular and extensive experience working with governmental entities, including numerous municipalities throughout the state of Oklahoma, large public universities, and boards of regents for higher education.

John is a frequent speaker at seminars on employee benefits topics, including the SouthWest Benefits Association Intermediate Level Training Seminars for Employee Benefits Practitioners and Plan Sponsors, the SouthWest Benefits Association Annual Employee Benefits Conference for Practitioners and Plan Sponsors, and the Oklahoma Society of Accountants’ Governmental Accounting and Auditing Conference. He is co-author of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Client Strategies, published by Aspatore Books in 2008. He has also authored articles in various publications, including the Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants’ CPA Focus, the Oklahoma Bankers Association’s Oklahoma Banker, and the Oklahoma Municipal League’s Cities and Towns.

John’s achievements have earned him inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (employee benefits/ERISA law) and Oklahoma Super Lawyers. In 2022, John was selected by Best Lawyers as “Oklahoma City Employee Benefits/ERISA Lawyer of the Year,” an honor given to a single lawyer in each legal specialty in each market.

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Experience, Honors, & Awards

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 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.
  • Advise 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.

Honors and Awards

  • Selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (employee benefits/ERISA law)
  • Named “Oklahoma City Employee Benefits/ERISA Lawyer of the Year” for 2022 by The Best Lawyers in America
  • Listed in Oklahoma Super Lawyers
  • Rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings

Professional Organizations and Memberships

  • Oklahoma County Bar Association
  • Oklahoma Bar Association
  • SouthWest Benefits Association
  • Gulf Coast Area TE/GE Council

ATPs display in this column

At The Podium

Show Me the Money! How Much is Your Consultant Being Paid? How Much Should They Get Paid?

EmployerLINC23: HR in Reel Life
Tulsa, OK | March 30, 2023

Show Me the Money! How Much is Your Consultant Being Paid? How Much Should They Get Paid?

EmployerLINC23: HR in Reel Life
Oklahoma City, OK | March 29, 2023

Best Practices for Protecting Retirement Plan Assets from Cyber Criminals

EmployerLINC22
Tulsa, OK | March 23, 2022

Lightning Round Questions: Employee Benefits Panel

EmployerLINC22
Tulsa, OK | March 23, 2022

Best Practices for Protecting Retirement Plan Assets from Cyber Criminals

EmployerLINC22
Oklahoma City, OK | March 22, 2022

Lightning Round Questions: Employee Benefits Panel

EmployerLINC22
Oklahoma City, OK | March 22, 2022

Health Plans, Before and After COVID-19

EmployerLINC21
Online | March 10, 2021

State Laws and Employee Benefits: What laws do you need to worry about?

EmployerLINC21
Online | March 10, 2021

Employee Benefits ‘Ask the Experts’ Panel

EmployerLINC21
Online | March 10, 2021

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Relying on employee benefit plan

EmployerLINC19
Tulsa, OK | April 4, 2019

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Relying on employee benefit plan

EmployerLINC19
Oklahoma City, OK | April 3, 2019

The Fantastic Four: Answers to your FAQs from our all-star panel

EmployerLINC19
Oklahoma City, OK | April 3, 2019

The Fantastic Four: Answers to your FAQs from our all-star panel

EmployerLINC19
Tulsa, OK | April 3, 2019

Welcome Relief in Recent Tax Legislation and Regulations

EmployerLINC18: Workplace Issues in the News
Tulsa, OK | March 29, 2018

Employee Benefits All-Star Q&A Panel

EmployerLINC18: Workplace Issues in the News
Tulsa, OK | March 29, 2018

Welcome Relief in Recent Tax Legislation and Regulations

EmployerLINC18: Workplace Issues in the News
Oklahoma City, OK | March 27, 2018

Employee Benefits All-Star Q&A Panel

EmployerLINC18: Workplace Issues in the News
Oklahoma City, OK | March 27, 2018

Employer Fiduciary Duties Related to Retirement Plan Administration

EmployerLINC17: Back to Basics
Tulsa, Oklahoma | March 23, 2017

Employer Fiduciary Duties Related to Retirement Plan Administration

EmployerLINC17: Back to Basics
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | March 22, 2017

What Am I Missing? COBRA, HIPAA and other medical plan issues

EmployerLINC16: Employers Under Pressure
Tulsa, Oklahoma | April 5, 2016

10 Questions on the Administration of Welfare Plans

SouthWest Benefits Association 2016 Plan Administrator Skills Workshop
Dallas, Texas | April 1, 2016

What Am I Missing? COBRA, HIPAA and Other Medical Plan Issues

EmployerLINC16: Employers under pressure
Oklahoma City, OK | March 30, 2016

10 Questions on the Administration of Welfare Plans

SouthWest Benefits Association 2016 Plan Administrator Skills Workshop
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | March 4, 2016

Revise-Review-Restate: A ‘How-to’ Guide for Retirement Plan Sponsors

2015 Cornerstone Credit Union League HR Conference
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | June 9, 2015

Affordable Care Act: Preparing for the Cadillac tax

EmployerLINC 2015: Case studies in costly mistakes
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | April 30, 2015

Affordable Care Act: Preparing for the Cadillac tax

EmployerLINC 2015: Case studies in costly mistakes
Tulsa, Oklahoma | April 28, 2015

Revise-Review-Restate — A ‘how-to’ guide for retirement plan sponsors

EmployerLINC Webinar
Online | May 21, 2014

Health Care Reform Update

Oklahoma Association of Municipal Attorneys Spring Conference
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | May 2, 2014

Health care reform update

EmployerLINC 2014: In Compliance, Out of Court
Tulsa, Oklahoma | April 17, 2014

Health care reform update

EmployerLINC 2014: In Compliance, Out of Court
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | April 16, 2014

Time to play or pay — (Finally) final regs for the employer mandate

EmployerLINC Webinar
Online | March 13, 2014

Correcting Retirement Plan Errors

EmployerLINC 2013: 'Government Gone Wild'
Tulsa, Oklahoma | April 26, 2013

Correcting Retirement Plan Errors

EmployerLINC 2013: 'Government Gone Wild'
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | April 23, 2013

Health Care Reform + Supreme Court Ruling = Now What?

McAfee & Taft Employee Benefits Seminar
Tulsa, Oklahoma | August 23, 2012

Health Care Reform + Supreme Court Ruling = Now What?

McAfee & Taft Employee Benefits Seminar
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | August 22, 2012

Administrative and Legal Issues in Implementing Wellness Programs

Health at Work Coalition Meeting
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | June 14, 2011, 11:30

Employee Benefits: Compliance Strategies to Avoid Sanctions, Penalties and Litigation

EmployerLINC 2011 Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits Seminar
Tulsa, Oklahoma | April 26, 2011, 9:45 AM - 10:45 AM

Health Care Reform and Retirement Plan Update

Enid Society for Human Resource Management Meeting
February 17, 2011, 11:30 AM

How New Regulations Are Impacting Company Retirement Plans

Fall 2010 Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits Seminar
Tulsa, Oklahoma | October 26, 2010, 8:25 AM - 12:00 PM

Guiding your Health Plans through a Changing Landscape

Fall 2010 Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits Seminar
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | October 20, 2010, 8:25 AM - 12:00 PM

Health Plans and the New Laws

Spring 2010 Labor & Employment and Employee Benefits Seminar
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | May 26, 2010, 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Health Plans and the New Laws

Spring 2010 Labor & Employment and Employee Benefits Seminar
Tulsa, Oklahoma | May 19, 2010, 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM

A Case Study in Wellness

2010 SouthWest Benefits Association / IRS Plan Administration Skills Workshop
February 12, 2010

Employee Benefits Update

LEEB University
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | October 2, 2009
Attorney Articles

Articles

Man reviewing documents at work
Fiduciary duty badge
IRS issues new IRS rules impacting cafeteria plans

IRS issues new rules impacting cafeteria plans

McAfee & Taft LINC |

Rights and Obligations of Employees and Employers Under Health Care Reform

Oklahoma Bar Journal |

Continuation Coverage Requirements

Benefits Compliance Strategies for Plans, Programs & Policies |

HHS announces new risk assessment tool for HIPAA security compliance

McAfee & Taft EmployerLINC Alert |

Continuation Coverage Requirements

Benefits Compliance: Strategies for Plans, Programs & Policies |

IRS issues guidance on new $2,500 limit for health flex accounts

McAfee & Taft EmployerLINC Update |

New IRS proposed rules on tribal retirement plans

McAfee & Taft EmployerLINC Employee Benefits Update |

Deadline approaching for amending health flexible spending accounts and other medical reimbursement expense plans

McAfee & Taft EmployerLINC |

Important information for employers with fully insured medical plans

McAfee & Taft Employee Benefits Alert |

Health Care Reform: Important regulations issued on grandfathered plans

McAfee & Taft Employee Benefits Alert |

New rules on notice requirements for breach of unsecured HIPAA protected health information

McAfee & Taft Employee Benefits Alert |
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Industry Groups

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Admissions

  • Oklahoma, 1983
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Education

  • J.D., Northwestern University, 1983
    • Editorial Board, Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business
  • B.A. (Accounting), with highest honors, University of Oklahoma
    • Beta Gamma Sigma
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In The News

Best Lawyers names 128 McAfee & Taft lawyers to 2023 lists
Best Lawyers' 2022 ‘Lawyers of the Year’
Best Lawyers 2022
Oklahoma Super Lawyers 2019
EmployerLINC19 draws largest audiences ever in Oklahoma City and Tulsa

Charles Machine Works to be acquired by Toro for $700 million

Oklahoma Super Lawyers honors 113 McAfee & Taft attorneys in 2018 edition

The Best Lawyers in America names 107 McAfee & Taft attorneys to 2019 edition

‘Workplace Issues in the News’ seminar draws record numbers

The Best Lawyers in America names 102 McAfee & Taft attorneys to 2018 edition

McAfee & Taft seminar draws large crowds looking for answers about new administration

‘Employers Under Pressure’ draws record attendance

Annual seminar offers employers real-world examples of costly, common mistakes

McAfee & Taft publishes video series from EmployerLINC2014 seminar

Annual seminar continues to draw more employers with timely practical guidance

‘Government Gone Wild’ seminar draws record numbers

New health care law prohibits varying benefits among staff

The Oklahoman |

Healthcare Reform calls for medical coverage of adult children

The Oklahoman |

Stimulus allows health coverage to continue for fired workers

The Oklahoman |

Papahronis Co-Authors Book on Employee Benefits Law

Oklahoman article spotlights ‘Super 401(k)’ developed by firm attorneys

The Oklahoman |

Business Week spotlights cutting-edge benefits plan developed by McAfee & Taft attorneys

Business Week |

Papahronis, Prince to Speak at SWBA Workshop in Tulsa

Papahronis, Nix to Speak at Employee Benefits Workshop