Calfee's nationally recognized Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice group advises business and governmental clients on managing their most challenging legal and business issues related to benefits and compensation.
In addition to extensive experience with tax-qualified retirement and employee health and welfare benefit plans, the group’s practice also has a significant focus on the design and implementation of sophisticated executive compensation programs, ESOPs, merger and acquisition matters, and ERISA litigation.
Our employee benefits attorneys are experienced in all types of benefit plans, including defined benefit pension plans, 401(k) plans, ESOPs, executive compensation arrangements, welfare plans, Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Associations (VEBAs), governmental plans, church plans, 403(b) plans and 457(b) plans. Areas of recent growth include forming ESOPs and pooled employer plans and negotiating pharmacy benefit management contracts.
Calfee represents publicly and privately held corporations, nonprofit organizations, banks and trust departments, and government entities in all phases of designing and administering employee benefit programs and related tax and fiduciary duty issues.
Calfee regularly advises large employers and governmental retirement systems on designing and administering their employee benefit plans, including drafting plan documents and summary plan descriptions, administering claims requests and appeals, and negotiating with recordkeepers, third-party plan administrators, pharmacy benefit managers, and other service providers.
In addition, Calfee advises clients with large pension plans and 401(k) plans on matters related to the investment of their plan assets, such as investment manager and adviser arrangements, investments in private equity and hedge funds, transition management arrangements, and compliance with regulatory requirements.
Noteworthy
Chambers USA Leading Law Firm Rankings
Since 2008, Calfee has been recognized as a Leading Law Firm for Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation by Chambers USA, most recently in Band 2 in Ohio (2024).
Clients provided the following feedback to Chambers USA researchers, "The firm is very responsive and offers hands-on involvement from partners. The lawyers have represented our interests very well in discussions and negotiations with third parties. The team knows our business well after years of service. The lawyers' timeliness, as well as their knowledge of our business, make them a critical partner to us. My company is extremely satisfied with the work Calfee has done for us. They are thorough, creative, and responsive. I have been impressed by the team and have strong confidence in its work and capabilities. I value responsiveness, and they have delivered that on a consistent basis. The team has a strong knowledge of benefit plans and an amazing ability to link things together. The Calfee team delivers excellent work. They offer a very holistic and thorough approach to complex matters. The team has deep knowledge, experience and subject matter expertise. The level of service they provide is outstanding. The Calfee team has a high level of expertise which allows them to readily address issues and provide valuable input to us."
Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” Rankings
Calfee was selected for inclusion in the 2024 "Best Law Firms" rankings in Litigation – ERISA (National Tier 2, Regional Tier 1 Cleveland) and Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law (Regional Tier 1 Cleveland).