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Overview

Alan devotes his practice to helping clients design, maintain and defend employee benefit and executive compensation plans that align with business goals.

Alan counsels a wide variety of clients – publicly traded, privately held, tax-exempt and governmental – as they navigate the highly regulated space of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation. He works closely with clients to design and draft durable and strategic benefit plans that meet compliance benchmarks while aligning with business goals, including:

  • Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)
  • 401(k) and other qualified retirement plans
  • Internal Revenue Code section 409A and other laws regulating nonqualified deferred compensation plans for executives
  • Equity and phantom equity plans for public and privately held companies
  • Welfare and fringe benefit plans

Alan also advises buyers and sellers on employee benefit and executive compensation issues in corporate transactions. When clients face unanticipated examinations or rulings, he defends their interests before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Labor (DOL) and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp (PBGC). Clients appreciate Alan’s collaboration with labor lawyers and investment advisors across the nation thanks to the firm’s coast-to-coast footprint.

Industry

Services

Recognition

  • The Best Lawyers in America®
    • Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, 2010-2025
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent
  • Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, Employee Benefits/ERISA, 2006
  • JD Supra Readers' Choice Award, Authored "Top-Read Article", 2022

Education

  • J.D., Saint Louis University School of Law
    • cum laude
    • Order of the Woolsack
      St. Louis University Law Journal, Editor
  • B.A., Washington University in St. Louis
    • universali cum honore

Admissions

  • Missouri

Professional Memberships and Certifications

  • Employee Benefits Association of St. Louis
  • The Missouri Bar
Experience
  • Regularly advise employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)-owned companies on compliance with the unique requirements of the Internal Revenue Code and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) applicable to ESOPs.
  • Served as outside counsel to prominent North American supplier of private-brand food products, advising on all benefits-related issues for its 10,000 employees.
  • Regularly advise clients on compliance with the fiduciary requirements of employee benefits, both those plans subject to ERISA and those exempt from ERISA.
  • Acted as primary outside benefits counsel to global paperboard and paper-based packaging company with a workforce of 21,000.
  • Regularly help clients identify and correct qualified plan failures through Voluntary Correction Program (VCP), self-correction, Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) and other correction programs.
  • Represented publicly traded company through its bankruptcy on all benefit matters, such as multiemployer plans and employer-sponsored defined benefit plans.
  • Developed a qualified defined benefit plan design for top leadership of a governmental employer.
  • Advise tax-exempt clients on executive compensation to attract and retain top leadership while complying with Internal Revenue Code section 457 and other requirements.
  • Represented a broker-dealer before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) national office to restore its qualification as a nonbank trustee after the IRS revoked its qualification.
Legal Updates | July 27, 2020
IRS Approves Husch Blackwell's Pre-Approved ESOP
Legal Updates | March 25, 2020
COVID-19-Related Issues for 401(k) Plan Sponsors
Legal Updates | November 20, 2019
Planning for 2020: Year-End Deadlines and Considerations for Employee Retirement, Health and Welfare Plans

As the end of the year approaches, employers should be aware of important year-end deadlines and considerations related to their retirement and health and welfare plans. We have compiled a list of these deadlines and provide guidance on how to comply with recent plan changes.

Webinar | July 17, 2024
Corporate Transparency Act for ESOPs
Speaking Engagements | April 8, 2021
Speaker, "ESOPs - 101," Financial Poise
Webinar | September 30, 2020
Deep Dive into Fiduciary Developments
Community Leadership
  • Vaad Hoeir of St. Louis, President, 1998-2000, 2016-present
  • H. F. Epstein Hebrew Academy, President, 2001-2003
  • Louis and Sarah Block Yeshiva High School, President, 2006-2008