David’s practice focuses on the area of employee benefits.

David regularly advises employers and third-party administrators on all tax and ERISA (and related labor and employment law) aspects of employee benefits law. His clients include for-profit employers (both publicly traded and privately held), as well as a wide variety of nonprofit and governmental employers.

Relevant Experience

  • Regularly assists clients on the design, implementation and operation of (i) tax qualified retirement and savings plans and (ii) health, severance and other employee welfare benefit programs. 
  • Regularly advises clients on the design, documentation and on-going compliance of individual and group executive nonqualified deferred and other supplemental compensation arrangements (including compliance with the section 409A rules). 
  • Regularly advises clients on the impact of, and compliance with, the group health plan reforms and other aspects of the 2010 health care reform law. Also a member of the firm's multidisciplinary group formed to advise clients on health care reform. 
  • Regularly works with clients in designing and operating stock option and other equity-based compensation arrangements and ensuring that those arrangements are in compliance with applicable securities and tax laws. 
  • Regularly advises clients on the handling of employee benefit programs in corporate and other transactions (including layoff and downsizing programs). 
  • Regularly assists tax-exempt and governmental employers in the design and operation of the special retirement and savings programs available to such employers, such as section 403(b) tax deferred annuity programs and section 457(b) deferred compensation arrangements. 
  • Focuses on Internal Revenue Service compliance and audits in the employee benefits area and regularly assists clients in correcting a wide variety of plan errors under the agency's voluntary relief programs for tax-qualified plans. 
  • Prior to entering private practice, served as a senior attorney in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, providing advice on a wide variety of substantive, enforcement and litigation matters in the employee benefits area. 
  • Currently serves as co-chair for separate IRS liaison groups on determination letter and correction programs for tax qualified plans.

Memberships

  • Member, IRS Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT), Employee Plans subgroup, 2012-2015
  • Chairman, Employee Benefits Committee of the American Bar Association’s Tax Section, 2007-2008
  • Member, Advisory Board for BNA’s Pension & Benefits Reporter, 2007-2016
  • Member, American College of Employee Benefits Counsel 
  • Member, Employee Benefits Committee of the American Bar Association’s Tax Section

Awards & Recognition

  • Recommended for Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Design (2020-2022) and Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Transactional (2020-2021), Legal 500 United States
  • Recognized as a Leader in Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation, Virginia, Chambers USA, 2006-2023
  • Named Lawyer of the Year in Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law (2019); selected as a Best Lawyer for Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, Washington DC (2019, 2024) and McLean (2008-2020), Best Lawyers in America
  • Selected as a Super Lawyer for Employee Benefits Law, Virginia Super Lawyers magazine, 2009-2011, 2013-2014, 2017-2019

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