Our Professionals

Ilene H. Ferenczy is the managing member of the Law Offices of Ilene H. Ferenczy, LLC in Atlanta. She specializes in qualified pension and profit sharing plans, nonqualified plans, employee stock ownership plans and tax-sheltered annuity plans for tax exempt organizations. Her expertise includes the design and implementation of retirement plans, consulting with clients on retirement plan issues in relation to mergers and acquisitions, representing companies and plans under audit by the IRS, Department of Labor and the PBGC, and consulting with clients regarding a myriad of planning, taxation and fiduciary liability issues. In addition to working with companies to develop various benefit programs, Ms. Ferenczy advises clients on the issues that arise on a day-to-day basis in these plans.

A member of the employee benefits community since 1977, Ms. Ferenczy was a Vice President of a Southern California pension administration company prior to going to law school. After her law school graduation, she specialized in ERISA at both Los Angeles and Atlanta law firms. Additionally, she has worked in the benefits practice of a "Big Five" accounting firm.

Ms. Ferenczy is a seasoned benefits professional, with experience in both the legal and technical aspects of employee benefit plans, as well as the practical administrative concerns that businesses and plan administrators face on a daily basis. She has earned the designations of Certified Pension Consultant from the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) and Accredited Pension Administrator from the National Institute of Pension Administrators.

Ms. Ferenczy is a nationally known speaker and has authored more than 50 articles on benefits topics for national journals including the Journal of Taxation of Employee Benefits, the Journal of Pension Benefits, where she is the Co-Editor, and the Journal of Mergers and Acquisitions. She is the author of Employee Benefit in Mergers and Acquisitions, an Aspen publication, which is in its 7th edition, as well as three textbooks on defined contribution plans for the ASPPA education and examination program. She is the first female co-chair of ASPPA’s Government Affairs Committee, a member of ASPPA’s Board of Directors, and a trustee of the ASPPA Pension Education and Research Foundation.

EDUCATION

• J.D., summa cum laude, Georgia State University College of Law, 2002 (six CALI awards, BNA Award for Excellence in Labor Law)
• J.D., summa cum laude, Western State University College of Law, 1992 (Emphasis in taxation; six American Jurisprudence Awards, Law Review)
• B.A., magna cum laude, University of California at Los Angeles, 1989 (Pi Gamma Mu)
  

BAR ADMITTANCES

• Georgia, 2003
• California, 1992

Regina L. Farmer, J.D., is an associate attorney with The Law Offices of Ilene H. Ferenczy, LLC, in Atlanta, Georgia.  In her practice, she advises clients on all types of employee benefit issues.  Ms. Farmer focuses her practice on qualified plan issues, executive compensation, and non-qualified deferred compensation.  Ms. Farmer joined the benefits community after ten years as a general practice attorney.  Her diverse background has made her particularly effective at providing a practical and realistic approach to her clients’ benefit issues.

Ms. Farmer is a member of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (“ASPPA”) and is a member of the Board of Directors of the ASPPA Benefits Counsel of Atlanta.  She has been published in the Journal of Pension Benefits, and is slated to begin speaking on benefit issues in September of 2007.

EDUCATION

Barbara S. Murphy is an associate at the Law Offices of Ilene H. Ferenczy, LLC, in Atlanta. Barbara joined the firm in January, 2007. Previously, she served as staff attorney to the Honorable Dorothy A. Robinson, Cobb County Superior Court, Marietta, Georgia.
Barbara is a member of the Cobb County Bar Association, the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA), and Women in Pensions.

EDUCATION

• J.D., cum laude, Georgia State University College of Law, 2004 (Law Review)
• B.A., summa cum laude, New Jersey City University, 1989 (Teacher Certification)

BAR ADMITTANCES

• Georgia, 2004

Law Office Administrator and Pension Paralegal

Carter K. Bevis is the paralegal for the Law Offices of Ilene H. Ferenczy, LLC in Atlanta. She specializes in qualified pension and profit sharing plans and has experience with nonqualified plans, employee stock ownership plans and tax-sheltered annuity plans for tax exempt organizations. Her expertise includes the documentation of retirement plans, performing operational compliance reviews for clients of various sizes, coordinating with companies whose plans are under audit by the IRS and Department of Labor, and reporting to the government for clients with annual Form 5500 filings.

Ms. Bevis has worked in the employee benefits field for over a decade, beginning her career in third-party recordkeeping while receiving her Master’s Degree in Taxation. She spent four years consulting with a “Big Five” accounting department, performing specialized plan reviews, assisting the employee benefit auditors, and preparing and filing hundreds of Form 5500s. Ms. Bevis has spent the last five years in the legal field as a paralegal at several law firms with Ms. Ferenczy.

Ms. Bevis is an experienced benefits professional with experience across a wide dimension of plan operations from documenting plans, to analyzing their actual operation, and finally assisting in their termination with both legal and logistical requirements.

EDUCATION

• MTx., Georgia State University, 1995
• B.A., Vanderbilt University, 1990

Marta J. Ward is the administrative manager for the Law Offices of Ilene H. Ferenczy, LLC, in Atlanta, Georgia.  Ms. Ward has been involved in employee benefits office administration with both law firms and “Big Five” accounting/tax firms since 1989, and has several years of prior experience in county tax offices, college teaching, and coaching.  She has an extensive background in organization, administration, implementation, and working with senior executives from small local offices to national and global practices.  Her experience includes serving as senior assistant to David M. Walker, managing partner for a global employee benefits and compensation practice, prior to his appointment as Comptroller General in charge of the U.S. General Accounting Office.

Ms. Ward has served as senior editor of an annual, globally distributed, employee benefits and compensation book, as well as marketing collateral and external communication pieces, and brings to the firm her particular expertise in editing technical benefits material and client legal documents.

EDUCATION

• M.S., Southern Illinois University, 1977
• B.S., Ball State University, 1974