Best Lawyers in America for Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
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From Chambers USA: “Shawn Kachmar stands out for both his in-depth knowledge of labor and employment law and excellent client service skills. As one interviewee comments: ‘Your problems always seem to be his priority – no matter how small you are, you always feel like you are his most important customer.’” Shawn Kachmar is a partner at HunterMaclean and practices in the areas of employment law , employee benefits , and business litigation . Shawn counsels employe...
Lucas J. Pagels is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law. Lucas J., who practices law in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Lucas J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Patty advises employers, fund sponsors and investors on compliance with the legal rules that regulate benefit plans and funds in which benefit plans invest. Patty advises employers on the full spectrum of employee benefit matters, with a particular focus on the design, implementation and administration of broad-based pension and retirement plans, health and other welfare benefit plans, and executive compensation programs. She has extensive experience in assisting employers with unionized and ...
Christian Hancey is a partner in the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation group. He focuses on designing, reviewing and implementing a wide range of benefit and compensation programs structured to suit businesses and nonprofit organizations. What do you focus on? I counsel employers on all types of traditional benefit plans, including defined benefit pension plans, 401(k) and 403(b) plans, multiemployer plans, medical benefit plans, cafeteria plans, disability plans and o...
Christy Tinnes is involved in all aspects of health and welfare plans, including the Affordable Care Act, ERISA, HIPAA, COBRA, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). She represents large employers designing health plans as well as insurers designing new products. She frequently advises both employers and service providers on the legal requirements for wellness programs, including HIPAA, ADA, and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. She also has significant experience working...
Lorne Dauenhauer is an attorney with Trucker Huss APC in Portland, Oregon, practicing exclusively in Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law and executive compensation. He has more than 35 years of experience in the employee benefits field, including nine years as an actuarial consultant, and has practiced employee benefits law since 2002. Lorne advises employers, plan sponsors, fiduciaries, and businesses on a broad range of employee benefits and ERISA matters. His practice includes retirement plans, ...
Ms. Broxterman was admitted to practice in the State of Georgia in 1997. She practices exclusively in the area of employee benefits law. She represents clients in the areas of qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, health and welfare plans, ERISA compliance, COBRA administration, compliance with the privacy rule under HIPAA, and other federal laws relating to employee benefits matters. Ms. Broxterman has published articles on various employee benefits topics, including the funding of s...
For a number of clients, Nicole serves as an extension of their benefits and rewards department, designing compliant total rewards programs that facilitate her clients’ business objectives. For publicly traded and private companies, predominately in the financial services, healthcare and restaurant sectors, as well as tax-exempt entities, Nicole regularly advises on retirement plans, including 401(k) plans, pension plans and government correction programs for fixing plan operational err...
John concentrates his practice on advising private and public entities on employee benefits and equity compensation matters for early stage private companies through mature public companies with a focus on mergers and acquisitions. From Fortune 100 companies to start-ups, John assists clients with employment agreements and creatively structuring tax-effective and practical incentive arrangements that meet business and operational goals. Incentive Plan Design: John works with groups or related...
Peter L. Peterson is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, Nonprofit / Charities Law, Tax Law and Trusts and Estates. Peter L., who practices law in Salina, Kansas, has been recognized since 1983. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Peter L. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Tom Clark serves as the firm's Chief Operating Officer and leads the firm’s St. Louis office. His expertise encompasses all aspects of employee benefits programs, including the design, implementation and compliance of retirement plans, health and welfare plans, and executive and incentive compensation arrangements. He also has a robust practice assisting covered service providers in meeting their ERISA compliance needs. Mr. Clark’s vast litigation experience complements the firm&r...
Jeremy L. Goldstein advises founders, CEOs, management teams and senior executives in executive compensation and corporate governance matters, particularly as such issues arise in the context of transformative corporate events and sensitive situations. He has been involved in many of the largest corporate transactions of the past decade and in over $3 trillion of M&A over his career. Prior to Sterlington, Mr. Goldstein was a partner at Wachtell Lipton. He writes and speaks frequently on c...
Jeffrey Kroh is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law. Jeffrey, who practices law in Washington, District of Columbia, has been recognized since 2027. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Jeffrey is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Mary is an attorney at Trucker Huss APC in San Francisco, California, with more than 25 years of experience advising employers on employee benefits and Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law matters. She counsels employers on a broad range of health and welfare benefit plan issues, including regulatory compliance, fiduciary responsibilities, and employee benefit plan administration. Mary focuses her practice on helping employers implement and comply with the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA)...
Ron Kilgard is a 40-year civil litigation lawyer.Over a long career, he has handled all manner of civil cases, from routine automobile accidents and two-party contract disputes of no interest to anyone but the parties, to multi-million dollar class actions covered in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal . For the last 20 years, Ron has mostly litigated pension plan class actions. Ron helped Keller Rohrback pioneer company stock ERISA litigation in the late 1990s and early 2000s; he ...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.