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Attorney Bios
Henry A. Smith, III
Barry K. Downey
Michael P. Connors
Douglas W. Desmarais
Kenneth B. Anker
Nicolle Zeman-Bonnett
Linda McGill Miller
Maryanne Dubbs
James M. Winn, Jr.
Katherine Reihing Gruner
Susan M. Stafford
Scott C. Moeves
HENRY
A. SMITH, III
Mr. Smith's practice deals with
all aspects of employee benefits and executive compensation law,
including all aspects of ERISA. He has extensive experience in
designing, drafting and providing advice concerning all types
of employee benefit and executive compensation programs, including
tax-qualified and non-tax-qualified deferred compensation and
retirement plans and all types of welfare benefit
programs. Mr. Smith has particular expertise concerning
the non-tax-qualified deferred compensation plans of
government and tax-exempt entities. Mr. Smith is a
frequent speaker and panelist at educational programs
in the employee benefits and executive compensation areas and is past
Chair of the Maryland State Bar Association Tax Section and Employee
Benefits Committee. Finally, Mr. Smith provides a wide range of general
business advice to his clients. Mr. Smith is resident in the Firm's
Baltimore office.
Education:
University of Maryland School of Law (J.D., with
Honors, Order of the Coif); The Johns Hopkins University
(M.L.A.); Frostburg State College (B.A., magna cum
laude, with Honors in Political Science and Education).
Member: Maryland and District of Columbia Bars, ABA
Section of Taxation and Business Law Section Employee Benefits
Committees. Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Baltimore Law
School Graduate Tax Program. From 1997 - 2000, author of COBRA
Quarterly, COBRA Procedures Manual
and HIPAA Quarterly. Co-Author of Nonqualified Deferred
Compensation Answer Book and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation
Answer Book Forms and Checklists. Contributing author
of 403(b) Answer Book.
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BARRY
K. DOWNEY
Mr. Downey's practice deals with all
aspects of employee benefits and executive compensation law. He has
extensive experience in
designing, drafting and providing advice concerning
all types of employee benefit and executive compensation
programs, including tax-qualified defined benefit
and defined contribution retirement plans and non-tax-qualified
deferred compensation plans and all types of welfare benefit programs.
Mr. Downey has considerable experience in negotiations with the IRS and
DOL on behalf of clients undergoing audits by and inquiries from these
agencies. Mr. Downey has considerable experience in the representation
of government entity, church and church related clients in connection
with all aspects of their ERISA-exempt tax-qualified and
non-tax-qualified retirement programs and welfare benefit programs. Mr.
Downey also has particular experience and expertise in the area of
advising clients regarding the technical compliance of all types of
employee
benefit and executive compensation programs, and in
the representation of employee benefit plan service
providers (e.g., consulting firms, financial institutions and
investment advisers) in connection with their services to their clients
and with the development and implementation of prototype retirement
plan products. Mr. Downey
is resident in the Firm's Baltimore office.
Education:
University of Maryland School of Law (J.D., with
Honors); University of Maryland (B.S., cum laude).
Member: Maryland and District of Columbia Bars; National
Association of Public Pension Attorneys Federal Legislation
and Employee Benefits Committees; former Chair, MSBA
Tax Section Committee on Employee Benefits. Admitted
to practice before the United States Supreme Court.
Co-Author of Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Answer Book and
Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Answer Book Forms and Checklists.
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MICHAEL
P. CONNORS
Mr. Connors' practice deals with all
aspects of employee benefits and executive compensation law. Mr.
Connors has particular expertise in the area of executive compensation
and other deferred compensation strategies for both taxable and
tax-exempt employers, in the area of advising employee benefit plan
service providers (primarily investment advisors) regarding ERISA's
fiduciary and prohibited transaction rules, and in the areas of
tax-qualified retirement plans, 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity plans,
insurance product based arrangements, flexible benefits plans and other
employee welfare benefit plans. Mr. Connors has considerable experience
in structuring executive compensation and employee benefit strategies
in the multi-entity integrated delivery health care system environment,
and has significant expertise in the development of employee benefit
and executive compensation plans in church and church related employer
settings. Mr. Connors also has worked extensively with the securities
and transactional aspects of employee benefits law, such as
equity-based and non-equity-based executive compensation, securities
registration, Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, ERISA
support in mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcy, management related and
other registration statement and proxy statement drafting, and employee
stock ownership plan design and consultation, and he is proficient in
both general corporate and securities law. Mr. Connors is resident in
the Firm's New York office.
Education:
Catholic University of America Law School (J.D., top 3%; Note and
Comment Editor, Catholic
University Law Review); Villanova University (B.A.,
cum laude). Member: Maryland and New York Bars, Pension
Council of Long Island. Co-Author of Nonqualified
Deferred Compensation Answer Book and Nonqualified Deferred
Compensation Answer Book Forms and Checklists.
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DOUGLAS
W. DESMARAIS
Mr. Desmarais' practice deals with
all aspects of labor and employer/employee relations, occupational
safety and health matters
and general litigation. He has extensive experience
in representing clients before the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, including claims involving
sexual harassment and race, gender, religion, age and
disability discrimination. He has represented clients before the
National Labor Relations Board, the Office of Federal Contract
Compliance Programs and the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health
Commission, as well as numerous
other governmental agencies. Mr. Desmarais' employment
litigation experience includes representation of clients
in numerous federal and state courts across the country.
Mr. Desmarais also regularly counsels clients in all
facets of employer/employee relations. Mr. Desmarais
is resident in the Firm's Baltimore office.
Education:
Georgetown University School of Law (LL.M., Labor
Law); University of Maryland School of Law (J.D.);
Brigham Young University (B.A., Philosophy). Member:
Maryland and District of Columbia bars; Former Chair,
Sexual Harassment Subcommittee, Committee on Labor
and Employment Litigation, ABA Section of Litigation. Editor and
co-author of Model Jury Instructions for Employment Litigation.
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KENNETH
B. ANKER
Mr. Anker's practice deals with all
aspects of employee benefits and executive compensation law. He has
extensive experience in
advising clients on the tax and ERISA implications
of a broad range of benefits-related matters, including
in the development, documentation and operation of
tax-qualified and non-tax-qualified deferred compensation and
retirement plans of all types, welfare and flexible benefits programs
and executive and broad-based equity-oriented
and performance-oriented incentive arrangements.
Mr. Anker has significant expertise in tailoring executive
compensation programs to meet critical objectives,
and has considerable experience in analyzing and structuring
insurance product-based compensation strategies. In
addition, Mr. Anker regularly counsels clients on the
tax implications of a broad range of corporate and individual
transactional, compliance and planning matters. Mr.
Anker is resident in the Firm's New York office.
Education: New York University School of Law (LL.M., Tax Law); George
Washington University School of
Law (J.D., with Honors); State University of New
York at Binghamton (B.S., Accounting, magna cum laude).
Member: New York Bar. Admitted to practice before
the United States Tax Court.
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NICOLLE
ZEMAN-BONNETT
Ms. Zeman-Bonnett's practice
deals with all aspects of employee benefits law, including all aspects
of ERISA. Ms. Zeman-Bonnett has particular experience in the areas of
401(k)
and other tax-qualified retirement plans, 457(b)
eligible deferred compensation plans, 403(b) tax-sheltered
annuity plans, flexible benefits plans and other employee
welfare benefit plans (including HRAs and other consumer-driven health
plans and adoption assistance programs). Ms. Zeman-Bonnett also
dedicates considerable time to
the Firm's church, church-related, health care and other tax-exempt
clients. Ms. Zeman-Bonnett is resident in the Firm's New York office.
Education:
Hofstra University School of
Law (J.D., with distinction; Hofstra Law Review);
Hofstra University (B.S., summa cum laude; Phi Beta
Kappa). Member: New York Bar. Contributing author of Nonqualified
Deferred Compensation Answer Book.
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OF COUNSEL BIOGRAPHIES
LINDA MCGILL MILLER
Ms. Miller's practice deals with all aspects of employee benefits law, including all aspects of ERISA.
Ms. Miller has extensive experience in designing, drafting and providing advice concerning all types of employee
benefit and executive compensation programs, and represents clients of all sizes in all major industry groups. Ms.
Miller is resident in the Firm's Baltimore Office.
Education:
Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., cum laude; Editor, American
Criminal Law Review); College of
Notre Dame of Maryland (B.A.). Member: Maryland Bar;
MSBA Tax Section Committee on Employee Benefits. Contributing author of
the treatise Employee Benefits Law published by the American Bar
Association Section of Labor and Employment Law.
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MARYANNE DUBBS
Ms. Dubbs' practice deals
with all aspects of employee benefits law, including all aspects of
ERISA. Ms. Dubbs
has extensive experience in the design, implementation, administration
and termination of tax-qualified and non-tax-qualified retirement
plans, 401(k) plans,
employee stock ownership plans, tax-sheltered annuities, plans of
government entities, and other similar arrangements. Ms. Dubbs has
particular expertise concerning the tax aspects of employee benefit
plans and representing clients before the IRS. Ms. Dubbs is resident in
the Firm's Baltimore office.
Education:
University of Baltimore School of Law (LL.M., Tax
Law); University of Maryland School of Law (J.D.,
with Honors, Order of the Coif); Shippensburg State
College (M.B.A., M. Ed.); University of Pittsburgh
(B.S., magna cum laude). Member: Maryland and District
of Columbia Bars; ABA Section of Taxation Employee Benefits
Committee; MSBA Tax Section Committee on Employee Benefits;
Past President WEB, Inc. Baltimore chapter; American Society of Pension
Actuaries.
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JAMES M. WINN, JR
Mr. Winn's practice deals with all aspects of employee benefits law, including all aspects of ERISA. Mr. Winn is resident in the Firm's Washington, D.C. office.
Education: Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M., Taxation; Certificate in Employee Benefits Law); George Mason University School of Law (J.D., with high honors, Dean's Scholar, Member, George Mason University Law Review); Georgia State University (B.S.). Member: Virginia Bar.
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ASSOCIATE
BIOGRAPHIES
KATHERINE
REIHING GRUNER
Ms. Gruner's practice deals
with all aspects of employee benefits law, including all aspects of
ERISA. Ms. Gruner is resident in the Firm's New York office.
Education:
Hofstra University School of Law (J.D., with distinction); Hofstra
University (B.A., cum laude). Member: New
York Bar.
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SUSAN
M. STAFFORD
Ms. Stafford's practice
deals with all aspects of employee benefits law,
including all aspects of ERISA. Ms. Stafford is resident
in the Firm's Baltimore office.
Education:
University of Maryland School of Law (J.D., with Honors); Frostburg
State University
(B.S., summa cum laude). Member: Maryland and District of Columbia.
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SCOTT
C. MOEVES
Mr. Moeves's practice
deals with all aspects of employee benefits law,
including all aspects of ERISA. Mr. Moeves is resident
in the Firm's Baltimore office.
Education:
William & Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law (J.D., Order of the
Coif); Thomas More College
(B.A., summa cum laude). Member: Maryland bar.
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