Ann practices in the areas of employee benefits and executive compensation. She previously served as in-house benefits counsel for a publicly-traded company, so she is able to provide clients with a business-oriented and practical approach to help them stay in compliance with the ever-changing rules. Ann's clients include private and public employers, brokers, and individuals. She assists her clients with all types of HR and benefits-related matters, including those relating to: qualified retirement plans (401(k), 403(b), ESOP, pension), including fiduciary obligations with respect to plan investments health, life, disability, and other welfare benefits, including ERISA, ACA, and HIPAA compliance stock options, restricted stock, and other equity incentive programs deferred compensation rules employment, change-in-control, bonus, and other executive compensation arrangements short and long-term incentives HR-compliance matters, such as payroll taxes, worker classification and data protection.

Ann also advises buyers and sellers regarding the HR and benefits risks and concerns involved in the purchase or sale of a business. She is involved with our venture capital and lending practices in assessing the potential impact of ERISA and Internal Revenue Code requirements on offerings and loans. She is a regular speaker on various topics, with recent presentations on the ACA, HIPAA & Data Breaches, Fiduciary Compliance of Investment Committees, and On-Site Clinics.

Why Benefits & Executive Compensation?

When we are working in the traditional benefit plan design space, I like that we can help clients create something that is beneficial for both the client and its workers. It’s usually a win-win situation - the company gets a great recruiting or retention tool and at the same time workers get a valuable benefit or incentive. Even when we are assisting with an M&A transaction, we are still focused on helping the company achieve the best result from the deal and minimize its risks, while at the same time ensuring that the transaction is as beneficial and seamless as possible for workers.

What are some of the traits that you admire the most amongst your peers?

We have a great group of professionals here at Nelson Mullins. People are ready and willing to jump in to help. I regularly experience a ‘can-do’ attitude from my colleagues that is focused on getting the problem resolved successfully or getting the deal closed for the benefit of the client, rather than trying to find obstacles or to drag out the process.

What is one piece of advice you would give to individuals who want to get into this industry?

I definitely believe that it is important to get additional technical expertise, whether through an LLM Tax degree or one of the more focused Employee Benefits certifications that are available from some of the major law schools. I also think individuals should recognize that it will take many years to learn this area and to not get frustrated by how fast it changes. Even now, topics come up that are new to me, but you simply dig in and figure it out.

What are the biggest foreseeable challenges in your field?

The benefits and executive compensation space has become so much more complicated than it used to be. This makes it difficult for new associates because there is just an overwhelming number of topics to learn. Some firms have taken the approach of slicing up the topics and having associates specialize in only one narrow category. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult for those associates to move laterally because they are so niched. It also makes it difficult to provide the client with complete advice because the lawyer is not able to issue-spot and identify how the advice that he or she is giving on a narrow topic could also impact the client in other areas. Additionally, it makes it less efficient for clients because they are forced to consult with multiple professionals. I believe that having experience with the wide range of benefits topics is important.

What’s one piece of advice that greatly impacted you and your career trajectory?

Focus on what the client needs from you. In other words, what is their question and what is the answer. Clients lead busy lives, and they don’t want to have to wade through pages of citations and rules to find out what the answer to their question is. Flip the usual law school format around and give them their answer first, then follow it up with the reasoning and rules so they can read further when they have the time.