Keith's practice focuses primarily on labor and employment issues arising from the design, drafting and administration of employee benefits plans, including:
- health
- welfare
- disability
- retirement
- pension plans
Keith represents benefit plans, plan sponsors, plan administrators, third-party administrators, and insurers.
Keith's areas of practice include plan drafting, plan amendment and litigation of ERISA claims arising from plan administration. He provides counseling to employers and plan sponsors on compliance issues for applicable federal and state regulations governing the administration of employee benefit plans.
Keith has represented plans, fiduciaries and other interested parties in litigation in a number of jurisdictions and continues to act as litigation counsel for a varied group of clients.
Keith lends his knowledge to the firm's Health Care Reform Working Group, which is designed to help clients sort through the myriad of issues and changes stemming from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.
Multiemployer Withdrawal Liability: Understanding the Basics
The imposition of withdrawal liability is a statutory mechanism designed to dissuade employers from withdrawing from participation in multiemployer pension plans. The rules governing withdrawal liability are found in the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980, which amended ERISA to impose withdrawal liability upon employers that cease contributions to a multiemployer defined benefit pension plan with unfunded vested benefits. Plan fiduciaries are required to (1) determine the amount of liability, (2) notify the employer of the amount of liability and (3) collect the liability.
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Employee Benefits Blog
Keith writes a blog that provides updates and commentary on various topics specific to the interaction between employee benefits and human resources, with an eye toward topics salient to the administration of employee benefit programs in conjunction with employment concerns. It is essential to keep current on the changes in the law (and, in some instances, case decisions) that directly impact benefits plan administration - including the ever-changing "reasonable person" standard under ERISA. Any professional who actively participates in the administration of plans and has questions regarding the current state of the law and the interaction of the law with human resource obligations will find this forum helpful.
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