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WHAT WE DO

Qualified Plans and Plans for Nonprofit and Governmental Entities

EMPLOYER-SPONSORED RETIREMENT PLANS
The Law Offices of Ilene H. Ferenczy, LLC provides legal services in relation to a variety of employer-provided benefit plans, including:

  • Traditional Defined Benefit Plans
  • Cash Balance Plans
  • 401(k) Plans
  • Profit Sharing Plans
  • ESOPs
  • 403(b) Plans
  • 457 Plans
  • Plans for Government Entities
  • Executive Compensation Plans

PLAN DOCUMENTS
Maintaining legal documents for plans poses a significant challenge for employers, whether they are private sector, government, or nonprofit entities.  The laws are increasingly complex and ever-changing – and regulations create additional layers of complexity.  Changing business conditions such as mergers, acquisitions, sudden growth, downsizing, insolvency, and bankruptcy may necessitate substantial alteration of plans.

The Law Offices of Ilene H. Ferenczy helps clients meet these challenges successfully by:

  • Providing individually designed custom retirement and health and welfare benefits plans;
  • Preparing timely amendments to keep plans in compliance with current law;
  • Working with clients to ensure that pre-approved documents prepared by other benefits specialists are completed correctly and advantageously;
  • Filing favorable determination letter applications for clients’ plan documents; and
  • Assisting with terminating plans by making any necessary government filings, including (if the plan is a defined benefit plan) negotiating with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

PLAN OPERATION
The Law Offices of Ilene H. Ferenczy assists in every aspect of plan operation, including:

  • Interpreting plan and statutory provisions to enable plans to stay in compliance with legal requirements.
  • Providing guidance for uncommon situations as they arise.
  • Identifying which service provider is doing what function for the plan.
  • Helping clients determine where needs are and are not being met, and assisting our clients in getting these unattended areas properly managed.
  • Assisting our clients with effective employee communications most commonly through providing summary plan descriptions, as well as:
    • enrollment forms
    • distribution forms
    • QDROs
    • loan procedures

PLAN PROBLEM-SOLVING
When mistakes are found, the Law Offices of Ilene H. Ferenczy is uniquely qualified to devise and manage the solutions,
such as:

  • Resolving a discovered administrative error or omission that threatens a plan’s tax-qualified status;
  • Structuring a correction of a fiduciary breach by the plan sponsor or trustee;
  • Representing clients in audits by the IRS, Department of Labor, or the Pension Guaranty Corporation;
  • Eliminating or minimizing penalties on late filing of governmental forms;
  • Communicating with participants regarding claims in dispute; and
  • Developing strategies to resolve employee concerns before they become disputes.

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Fiduciary Liability Issues

FOR PLAN SPONSORS:
Sponsors and Trustees of employee benefit plans occupy a special status that can result in significant liability. Our Firm works with Sponsors and Trustees to ensure that fiduciary duties are being fulfilled.  If there has been a breach, we can assist our clients to remedy the breach and limit applicable taxes and penalties.

FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS:
Service providers to retirement plans need to have written agreements outlining their services and fees.  The Department of Labor (DOL) issued proposed regulations outlining this requirement during the waning days of the Bush Administration, which were put on hold by the Obama Administration.  However, the need for plan administrators to understand the services being provided and the fees related to those services is a theme that is unchanged under the new Administration and in Congress.

Furthermore -- and more to the point -- service agreements protect the service providers themselves by outlining the scope of the engagement, the responsibilities of the client, and the actual services being provided.  This eliminates misunderstandings about "who's on first," makes it clear when and if the service provider acts as a fiduciary, and makes fee collection easier.

As one of the many services we provide to third party administrators (TPAs), our attorneys assist TPAs in drafting engagement agreements that are anticipated to meet any final rules issued by the DOL or required by Congress, as well as meeting the liability reduction needs of the TPA. 

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Audit Representation

IRS, DOL, PBGC AUDITS
The Law Offices of Ilene H. Ferenczy assists clients whose plans are being audited and/or examined by:

  • the Internal Revenue Service (IRS);
  • the Department of Labor (DOL); or
  • the Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). 

Due to the complex nature of retirement plan law, mistakes can be made that often go unnoticed until they are discovered under audit by a governmental agency.

We represent clients before the IRS, the DOL, and the PBGC.  We are expert at navigating through the confusing process of audit, which is often complicated by overlapping administrative oversight by the agencies and the various laws and procedures.  We understand and speak the government’s language.  We work tirelessly to minimize our clients’ costs and to negotiate settlement quickly and thoroughly. 

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Ongoing Client Consultation

The Law Offices of Ilene H. Ferenczy provides ongoing client consultation in all areas of employee benefits, such as:

  • Due diligence benefits plan review prior to merger, spin-off, acquisition;
  • Solving retirement plan problems that arise due to changing business conditions;
  • Consultation regarding specific problems;
  • Review of retirement plans and service providers;
  • Training Services for Benefits Practitioners; and
  • Provision of written materials for use in administering plans.

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Our Efforts in Washington, D.C.

As a former co-chair and current senior advisor of the Government Affairs Committee for the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries, Ilene Ferenczy has significant opportunities to meet with members and staff of Congress, at the IRS, at the Department of Labor, and at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to encourage laws, regulations, and other guidance that are helpful to plan sponsors and practitioners. For example, ASPPA’s GAC was integrally involved in working with Congressional staffers in the development of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, the most comprehensive piece of pension legislation in decades.

Through the relationships developed as part of GAC, the Firm often is able to cut through red tape and assist our clients in their dealings with government officials.