Our employee benefits practice group offers more than 100 years’ experience in advising clients on all aspects of employee benefits, and brings first chair experience to clients’ employee benefits needs at highly competitive billing rates. Our senior group members are active and recognized in both the local and national employee benefits communities and have developed significant contacts with the Internal Revenue Service and, the United States Department of Labor, locally, regionally, and nationally.
Cindy Shupe (practice group chair) is Chair of the IRS Pacific Coast TE/GE Council which is composed of private practitioners and serves as a sounding board to the IRS on matters related to retirement policy, specific tax issues, procedures and IRS enforcement initiatives affecting employee benefits.
David Heap is a former co-chair and member of the program planning committee of the Western Benefits Conference, jointly sponsored by the Western Pension & Benefits Council and the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries, which arranges the program, topics, and speakers for an annual education conference relating to employee benefits. He is a former president of the Phoenix chapter of the Western Pension & Benefits Council and former member of its steering committee
Gail Goodman spent most of her career at a large public accounting firm giving her a wide range of experience in the design, implementation, and administration of various employee benefit and executive compensation matters including both qualified and non-qualified deferred compensation plans for publicly traded and privately held companies and their governing boards, as well as for governmental employers.
Ryan Curtis has handled numerous Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) litigation matters regarding benefit disputes, unpaid employer contributions, and multiemployer plan withdrawal liability matters. He advises and defends plans during audits by the IRS and the Department of Labor. He helps plans comply with important federal laws including ERISA, the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). He assists plans with compliance failures and submitting correction applications to the IRS.
Kristi Lundstrom consults with plan sponsors and others with respect to plan design, corrections, and administration, and assists with applications to the IRS, for both plan corrections and terminations. She is a board member of the Phoenix chapter of the Western Pension & Benefits Council, which organizes educational meetings and conferences relating to employee benefits issues.
Our employee benefits practice routinely advises clients on issues arising under ERISA and tax implications relating to various benefits found in the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”). Our practice has a range of experienced attorneys and paralegals so that we can properly staff even the most complex benefit matters in a cost-effective manner and provide excellent service. Our employee benefits practice covers all of the client needs set out below.