Best of 2020: Opening Remarks and Legislative and Regulatory Update

Jodi H. Epstein is a partner in Ivins, Phillips & Barker’s Employee Benefits practice. She focuses on qualified plans, with particular expertise in integrations after acquisitions, setting up benefit platforms, and advising qualified plan committees regarding their fiduciary duties. Jodi’s practice includes day-to-day compliance issues, such as assisting with implementation of new legislation and regulations, trouble-shooting when glitches arise in plan operations, and helping qualified plan committees monitor plan investments and plan vendors. Her practice also includes the one-of-a-kind issues that can arise, usually in connection with M&A activity. Jodi did her undergraduate work at Stanford University, graduating with distinction in 1988. She graduated from Harvard Law School in 1993 (cum laude). She has been at Ivins since 1997.

Ben Grosz is a partner with Ivins, Phillips & Barker, where he advises clients on a broad range of employee benefits issues and federal tax planning matters, with particular focus on counseling employers and fiduciaries about their 401(k) and other tax-qualified plans. One recent highlight has been advising a prominent company on the creation of a new proprietary ESG fund for its 401(k) plan. He regularly advises clients regarding their fiduciary duties and handles day-to-day compliance issues, such as trouble-shooting when glitches arise in plan operations, implementation of new laws and regulations, and helping qualified plan committees monitor plan investments and plan vendors. He has handled a variety of benefits issues that arise in transactions, negotiated investment management agreements and other benefits vendor service agreements (e.g., recordkeeping, consulting, and trustee), and represents clients in audits and before government agencies such as the IRS and DOL. Ben has extensive experience drafting plan documents, amendments, fiduciary committee meeting minutes, summary plan descriptions and other participant communications. He has been retained as outside legal counsel to implement many investment manager and fund changes (including mutual funds, collective investment trusts, separately managed accounts, and private funds); to assist with the implementation of de-risking initiatives and plan redesigns; to establish numerous brand new qualified retirement plans (including defined benefit and cash balance pension plans, as well as 401(k) plans with ESOPs) in connection with complex transactions; to advise on executive employment agreements and tax matters; and to oversee and manage fee disclosure due diligence and reporting processes. Ben works with large and small clients on their benefit programs and routinely handles day-to-day administrative questions for all types of plans. Recent employee benefits clients include ConEdison, GE, IBM, PSEG, SABIC, and the U.S. Golf Association. Before law school, Ben started his own financial planning business. Prior to that he was a business manager at Capital One. His business experiences help him understand the needs of clients ranging from entrepreneurs to large corporations. Ben earned his B.A. from the University of Virginia (magna cum laude and elected Phi Beta Kappa), an Executive Certificate in Financial Planning from Georgetown University, and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. He has been frequently quoted in national publications and the trade press (including Forbes, US News & World Report, CNBC, PlanSponsor, Family Office Monthly, and Fiduciary News) on benefits and tax matters, and he has spoken to the American Bar Association, the D.C. Bar, The Plan Sponsor University, the Tax Executives Institute, and PlanSponsor’s Best of PSNC conference.