Senior Employee Benefits (Retirement Plans) Attorney

Chicago office of a BCG Attorney Search Top Ranked Law Firm seeks a senior employee benefits (retirement plans) attorney with 15 years of knowledge of/experience with employee benefits law, specifically in areas such as ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code as they related to qualified retirement plans, including traditionally defined benefit plans and defined contribution/401(k) plans. The candidate should preferably have experience with multi-employer plans, multiple employer plans, cash balance, and/or 403(b) plans. Experience counseling plan sponsors on benefit structures, tax qualification requirements, fiduciary duties in the administration of employee benefit plans, plan funding rules, plan investments, and benefits in the context of mergers and acquisitions/downsizing are required. Candidates with some or a combination of experience in these areas are encouraged to apply. Candidates with broad experience relating to other areas of employee benefits, such as executive compensation and health and welfare, are encouraged to apply, but candidates must have substantial qualified retirement plan experience. Must have prior substantial experience drafting and reviewing qualified retirement plan documents, including for individually-designed and pre-approved plans and amendments necessary to comply with changes in tax-qualification requirements, and experience advising on plan corrections, plan administration, plan governance, benefit claims, participant communications, and the selection and monitoring (and negotiation) of plan service provider agreements for retirement plans. Admission to practice law in one of the following jurisdictions is mandatory: Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, or Washington, DC is mandatory.

The candidate should preferably have the highest level of legal and practical problem-solving skills, strong oral presentation, and client relations acumen. Must possess strong academic credentials and excellent communication and writing skills, especially in distilling complex matters into easy-to-understand, actionable advice, and substantial research experience. Juris Doctorate degree required.

Here is a firm with a strong presence in the Midwest that is well known for its expertise in labor and employment law. The firm actually is considered a trend setter in the areas of labor and employment law, and its attorneys are well known for their abilities in this field throughout the United States. Despite this strong expertise, this firm has grown into a powerful full service firm and has strong practice groups in litigation, corporate, tax, government contracts/technology, bankruptcy, immigration, entertainment, environmental, real estate transactions, employee benefits, estate planning and other areas of law. Associates who have interviewed with this firm are impressed with the fact that the firm appears to do extremely good work and is in a serious growth mode. From our observations, the growth of this firm appears to have been very intelligent and deliberate. Despite the fact that this is a branch office, there do appear to be opportunities for significant associate advancement here.