Return to Practice Areas

Employee Benefits

The employee benefits attorneys at McDaniel Wolff understand that human capital is an organization’s greatest asset. A strong benefits and compensation program not only attracts and retains top talent but also safeguards employers from costly compliance risks. Our experienced employee benefits attorneys in Arkansas provide tailored legal counsel for businesses, executives, and HR professionals seeking to design, implement, and manage benefit plans effectively.

If we can assist you with any executive compensation or employee benefit matters, please contact one of our attorneys featured on this page, or submit an inquiry online.

Full-Service Employee Benefits Practice

Our clients seek a multi-disciplinary and multi-faceted approach to their most complicated and important benefits challenges. A truly broad and deep level of excellence can be found at very few firms; we are one of these few. Our attorneys work together as a team, bringing to bear multiple concentrations for each client, which enables us to achieve superior results for clients on significant employee benefit matters while being cost efficient with routine questions.

Our benefits group collaborates with clients of all sizes in a variety of different industries to design and develop benefit programs and incentive compensation arrangements that meet key goals, while also navigating the complex laws that impact these arrangements. Once programs are in place, we are able to provide on-going counsel and support to ensure they are administered prudently and to address any compliance issues which may arise.

Our employee benefits attorneys support organizations and other attorneys in situations where benefits and compensation issues are a priority and the skill, experience, and knowledge to handle those issues is a necessity. These circumstances include handling benefit issues that arise in business mergers and acquisitions, representing clients in ERISA litigation, or supporting a client in an IRS or DOL audit.

Our attorneys also advise executives in connection with evaluating and negotiating compensation and incentive packages offered by their employer and mitigating any adverse tax consequences or risks.

Our employee benefits and executive compensation experience includes a wide variety of different compensation and benefit arrangements, as well as specialized areas practice. These areas of service include:

• Non-qualified deferred compensation and executive compensation arrangements
• Retirement plan design and qualification of pension plans (both traditional and cash balance), profit sharing plans, money purchase plans, and 401(k) plans
• Non-qualified plan design including “Top Hat” elective deferred compensation arrangements and supplemental executive retirement plans
• Advising clients regarding Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs) used for leverage buyouts and business acquisitions
• Health, Welfare and Fringe Benefit Plans
• Affordable Care Act Compliance
• Fiduciary Counsel and Governance
• ERISA litigation including fiduciary liability claims, subrogation claim, under medical plans and collection matters
• Due diligence analysis of mergers, acquisitions and corporate transactions affected by ERISA and employee benefit plans
• Section 409A Compliance and Deferred Compensation
• Review and correction of plan errors, including coverage and discrimination testing, and defense against plan audits or inquiries before the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor
• Retirement plan termination including applications with the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
• Advise clients regarding health plans primarily in connection with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) and the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (“COBRA”)
• Keeping clients informed of periodic law and regulation changes which impact their employer benefit plans

Premier Employee Benefits Attorneys

Whatever the need or circumstance, our employee benefits attorneys strive to provide creative and cost-efficient solutions to best protect, manage, and retain our clients’ number one asset: their people. Our deep-seated experience in employee benefits law is sufficient for any Arkansas business, and we’re ready to work fluently with any officer or executive regardless of their level of ERISA comfort. We have the veteran knowledge and bench depth it takes to avoid mishaps in this precarious legal minefield. 

If we can assist you with any compensation matters, please call or email one of our benefits attorneys featured on this page, or submit an inquiry via our contact form available here.