



		Corporate Transactions

		Retirement Plans

		ESOPs

		Welfare Benefits Plans

		ERISA Exempt Plans

		Legal Compliance Audits For Benefit Plans

Retirement Plans

Advising companies on structuring comprehensive retirement plans and programs that are designed to enable them to effectively compete for talent is a major part of our firm's practice. Janich Law Group has extensive experience in designing, drafting, implementing, and assisting in the administration of various tax qualified retirement plans that satisfy an employer's business objectives as well as the needs of rank-and-file employees, including:

Defined benefit plans;

Cash-balance plans;

401(k) and profit sharing plans;

Employee stock ownership plans ;

Money purchase pension plans.

Our experience with these plans ranges from efficiently processing a plan determination letter request to the IRS on the tax qualification of the plan to plan termination. Our clients retain us to advise and consult regarding the proper administration of their retirement plans in accordance with plan terms, as well as with the ever changing governing laws. We have over 20 years of experience in handling all such matters for our business clients, both public and private.

We provide a great number of services including:

Auditing a company's qualified retirement plans to ascertain whether there are any administrative issues that could potentially endanger the plans' tax qualified status;

Recommendations, preparation and submission to the IRS for approval of corrective actions required to maintain a plan's tax qualified status;

Consulting on what approaches are necessary for a company to meet its reporting and disclosure obligations;

Guiding plan sponsors regarding their fiduciary obligations and avoidance of prohibited transactions;

Assisting sponsors in understanding and complying with the statutory funding and investment mandates;

Assist companies in the general administration of their retirement plans in a manner consistent with maintenance of their tax qualified status;

If necessary, in cases of corporate acquisitions, mergers or divestitures, undertaking the steps required to freeze, terminate or merge qualified retirement plans;

Creating effective communications programs to inform eligible employees of their benefits and the steps they need to take to enroll;

Drafting and entry of qualified domestic relations orders (QDROs);

Assist the company in administering the benefits of employees in bankruptcy.

Prototype Plans

A number of our corporate clients choose to implement prototype retirement plans furnished by financial institutions or insurers. We routinely review these plans and advise clients on legal issues relating to their implementation and administration to ensure that the plans and their administration satisfy all legal requirements, including federal tax rules relating to plan disqualification.

Qualified Domestic Relations Orders

We frequently are called upon to assist clients in responding to Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs) which relate to a division of qualified retirement plan benefits between divorcing spouses. We are able to efficiently review and process these orders to ensure that they are consistent with the terms of the plan and compliant with applicable rules and regulations. We offer our clients proposed QDRO procedures and sample QDROs.

We frequently function as our client's principal administrator of QDROs, and as such, we assume responsibility for communicating with all outside parties, including attorneys, participants and alternate payees, and for supervising the division of plan benefits. These services are rendered on a flat fee basis.

Representative Engagements - Retirement Plans

Prohibited Transaction Exemption - We counseled a nationally known real estate investment and management firm on its fiduciary responsibilities when investing pension funds in various commercial property ventures. Specifically, we reviewed the operations and intended investments of the firm, and thereafter analyzed the applicable complex rules governing prohibited transaction exemptions for real estate investments and the requirements of qualified investment managers. We prepared an opinion for the firm that enabled it to confidently make its investments without running afoul of the prohibited transaction rules that would otherwise result in the imposition of severe monetary penalties.

Plan Freeze - One of our manufacturing clients that was experiencing the effects of the downturn in the economy contacted us to assist in its efforts to temporarily suspend defined benefit plan contributions. Our client was concerned with the practical business as well as the legal impact that such an action might have upon its workforce and its competitiveness in the marketplace. We reviewed the company's defined benefit plan and prepared the necessary amendment to temporarily freeze plan contributions. We also audited the client's other qualified retirement plans and the client authorized us to implement our recommendations, including various plan design changes to increase the overall retirement benefits to participants at minimal or no out of pocket costs to the company. We also assisted the client with its employee communication by preparing materials and programs that clearly and accurately explained the plan freeze to affected participants as well as the overall benefits derived from the other plan design changes. In doing so, we assisted the company in achieving its financial and business objectives, including maintaining its competitive status in the marketplace.

Self Directed 401(k) Brokerage Account - The trustees of our client's 401(k) plan had received inquiries from plan participants who desired the services of a directed brokerage for their plan account. After reviewing the plan's existing investment options and explaining the risks and potential administrative complications that may arise from the use of a brokerage account, one was added, through which participants could choose to invest in a wide assortment of funds. We helped our client develop an effective communications and educational program that advised plan participants of the risks and procedures involved in the of the brokerage firm for their accounts. We thereby helped the trustees to minimize their risk of liability.

Plan Corrections - One of our clients, in preparing for sale of the company's stock, discovered several irregularities in the operation of its 401(k) plan, including the inadvertent exclusion of several eligible employees. If such plan defects were discovered in an audit by the IRS, the plan's tax qualified status might have been jepardized. After thoroughly reviewing the plan documents and a history of its operation, we discovered several additional defects which required correction before the plan could be given a "clean bill of health." After making our recommendations on the appropriate correction methods and strategy to use, we prepared a correction submission, utilizing the IRS' voluntary correction program. After receiving IRS approval of our recommended corrections and implementing them, we were able to provide our client as well as the prospective purchaser with assurance that the 401(k) plan was in full compliance with applicable law.

Change in Plan Service Provider - One of our clients requested our assistance in implementing a change in plan service providers. We reviewed and negotiated the administrative services agreement in a manner that provided our client with a greater degree of control over the quality of plan services rendered and at a lesser cost. We also reviewed and amended the terms of the new prototype plan to ensure that it provided plan participants with the same plan features they enjoyed previously. Working closely with our client throughout the transfer process, we assisted in the preparation and issuance of appropriate and timely blackout notices, in the establishment of account balances with the recordkeeper, and in the preparation of written communications to plan participants during the transfer process. As a result of these efforts, our client achieved its goal of developing an effective working relationship with its new plan service provider without risk of a serious disruption in the administration of plan participant accounts.