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How do I help clients with their complex employee benefits, ERISA, and tax matters?
I’m an employee benefits and ERISA lawyer who helps clients navigate laws that are complicated, technical, and difficult to comply with. When a client calls with an acute problem, I like to get “under the hood,” figure out where we are and devise a practical solution that gets the client back on the road. After 25 years in this practice, I’ve learned that no one ever regrets being careful — and that there’s rarely an off-the-shelf answer.
Drawing on deep experience in ERISA and tax law
Quitman “Q” Stephens advises employers, labor unions and employee benefit plans on the full range of issues arising under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. His practice encompasses retirement and other employee benefit plans, including 401(k), 403(b), cash balance and other defined benefit and defined contribution plans, ESOPs, health and welfare plans, cafeteria plans and executive compensation arrangements. Because ERISA plans are generally governed by both ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code, Q brings deep tax knowledge to his work as well as a thorough understanding of the federal laws governing employee benefits.
Constructing solutions to complex problems
Q regularly helps clients address plan issues arising from business transactions, including the sale of stock or substantially all of a company’s assets. He also advises on the establishment, design, amendment and termination of benefit plans, as well as operational and plan-document failures, compliance issues, corrections and matters involving litigation or government enforcement. When a problem has become acute, he approaches it as an “ERISA 911” call — assessing the situation, identifying the available options, and finding a way to “land the plane” on short notice and on a short runway.
Translating the “Greek” into practical business advice
With highly technical laws at the center of his practice, Q believes one of his greatest strengths is, as he says, translating the “Greek” of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code into language clients can understand. That allows them to make sound business judgments rather than simply receiving a technical legal answer. He also regularly works with the Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service, giving him practical familiarity with the agencies responsible for enforcing the laws that govern his clients’ plans.
Finding answers when there’s no cookie-cutter solution
Q enjoys the problem-solving aspect of his work, particularly when a client needs a solution that cannot be pulled from a template. He describes himself as a fervent adherent to the “MacGyver” school of solving problems: The solution doesn’t have to be fancy or look cool; it just has to work. Whether correcting a plan failure, navigating a transaction, or addressing a compliance issue, he draws on experience to cut to the chase and engineer a solution suited to the client’s particular circumstances.
Helping clients get ahead of the problem
Although Q is often called after an issue has become urgent, he also counsels clients on how to avoid problems in the first place. He believes slowing down, assessing the situation, and getting in control is generally the right approach when dealing with complicated benefit-plan requirements. He doesn’t stop at simply identifying what went wrong—he helps clients understand where they stand, determine how to move forward, and, whenever possible, get in front of the problem.
Applying broad knowledge to specialized challenges
Q’s practice covers virtually every type of employee benefit plan and arrangement subject to ERISA or the Internal Revenue Code. He advises on issues ranging from plan amendments and restatements, audits, prohibited transactions and plan assets to government correction programs, Affordable Care Act requirements and employer mandates. He also has extensive experience with VEBAs, MEWAs, PEO arrangements and private letter rulings, among other specialized employee benefits matters.
Bringing a human touch to technical work
Q understands that ERISA lawyers have a reputation for being “boring and dry technicians,” but he takes a decidedly different approach. Even when the subject matter proves to be highly technical, he believes effective counseling depends on communication, judgment and the ability to connect complicated legal requirements to the client’s real-world circumstances.
With extensive experience in healthcare compliance, Q also advises healthcare providers and practitioners on matters involving the Affordable Care Act, federal healthcare fraud and abuse laws and related regulatory requirements. He has represented healthcare clients in matters involving the Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law, False Claims Act and other federal and state healthcare laws.