Ed is a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation practice group. He previously served as Assistant General Counsel of Nationwide Insurance Company where he advised the company on various employee benefit matters including ERISA fiduciary and qualified retirement plan issues.
Ed counsels clients on all aspects of employee benefits, including compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and other legal requirements applicable to retirement plans and health and welfare benefits plans.
Focus Areas
Retirement Plans
- Creation, maintenance and termination of tax-qualified retirement plans (e.g., traditional defined benefit plans, cash balance pension plans, profit sharing plans and 401(k) plans)
- Nondiscrimination requirements (coverage, general nondiscrimination, ADP, ACP and top-heavy requirements)
- Disclosure and reporting requirements (e.g., Form 5500, summary plan descriptions, summary annual reports, participant fee disclosures and 408(b)(2) disclosures)
- Determination letter submissions
- Correction of plan errors through IRS and DOL correction programs
- ERISA fiduciary responsibilities and compliance, including design and implementation of committee structures and processes
- ERISA bonding requirements
- Prohibited transactions and exemptions
- DOL/IRS/PBGC audits and other compliance checks
- ERISA compliance for investment advisers/investment managers
Health & Welfare Benefit Plans
- The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), “Obamacare” or Health Care Reform) including:
- Grandfathered plan status and compliance
- Plan design requirements (e.g., prohibition on annual and lifetime limits, elimination of preexisting condition exclusions, preventive care requirements, provision of essential health benefits)
- Employer pay-or-play (shared responsibility) obligations
- Individual mandate obligations
- Disclosure and reporting requirements (SBCs, Marketplace Notices, employee communications)
- Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute (PCORI) and transitional reinsurance fees
- HIPAA privacy and security compliance
- Business associate agreements
- Notices of privacy practices, privacy policies and procedures, security policies and procedures, conforming plan amendments and other supporting documentation
- Wellness program design and compliance
- COBRA and state mini-COBRA compliance
- Cafeteria plan design and compliance
Miscellaneous
- Employee benefits issues in mergers and acquisitions
- Mergers of qualified plans
- Controlled group and affiliated service group analysis
- Service agreements and related matters
- “District Court Blocks DOL Investment Advice Rule – For Now,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, July 2024
- “U.S. Department of Labor Finalizes Major Changes to Its Fiduciary Investment Advice Rule,” Benefits Law Journal, June 2024
- “DOL Again Enters the Investment Advice Fray With Proposed Retirement Security Rule,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, November 2023
- “DOL Issues Much-Anticipated Retirement Plan Cybersecurity Guidance,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Update, April 2021
- Quoted, “Sponsors Should Have a Plan in the Event of a Cyberattack,” PlanSponsor, March 2021
- “DOL Prohibited Transaction Exemption for Participant Investment Advice Passes Review,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, February 2021
- “What’s Old Is New Again: DOL Reinterprets Five-Part Investment Advice Test,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, February 2021
- “DOL Final Rule on Fiduciaries’ Exercise of Proxy Voting and Shareholder Rights,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, January 2021
- “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021: Implications for Business,” Thompson Hine COVID-19 Update, December 30, 2020
- Co-author, “COVID-19 Relief Bill – The Impact on Employers and Employees,” Thompson Hine COVID-19 Update, December 2020
- Co-author, “DOL Final Rule for Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, December 2020
- Co-author, “DOL Issues Interim Final Rule Implementing SECURE Act Requirements for Lifetime Benefit Illustrations,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Update, September 2020
- Author, “Retirement and Pension Plan Administration, Fiduciary Standards: Overview,” Bloomberg Law, August 2020
- Co-author, “DOL Proposes Broad New Fiduciary Investment Advice Exemption,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Update, July 2020
- Co-author, “DOL Releases Proposed Rule for Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Update, July 2020
- Co-author, “Adviser: 401(k) plans aren’t immune to COVID-19,” Crain’s Cleveland Business, April 4, 2020
- Author, “Benefits Trends: Student Loan Repayment Programs,” Thompson Hine Business Law Update, Winter 2019
- Author, “Fifth Circuit Vacates DOL Fiduciary Rule,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits & Investment Management Update, March 2018
- Author, “The Final Fiduciary Rule – Employer Considerations,” Thompson Hine The Law@Work Newsletter, Summer 2016
- Author, “The Final Fiduciary Rule – Employer Considerations,” Thompson Hine Business Law Update, Summer 2016
- Author, “Your Retirement Plan: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You,” Thompson Hine Business Law Update, Spring 2016
- Co-author, “The DOL’s Final Fiduciary Rule Released: Plan Sponsor’s Perspective,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, April 2016
- Co-author, “How Similar Is Too Similar? The Ninth Circuit’s Take on Successor Multiemployer Pension Plan Withdrawal Liability in the Building & Construction Industry,” Thompson Hine Business Law Update, Fall 2015
- Contributor, “Affordable Care Act,” Columbus CEO, November 2013
- Co-author, “Private Equity Funds May Face ERISA Liability,” Thompson Hine Investment Management Update, September 2013
- Author, “Are ERISA Budgets Plan Assets? The DOL Sheds Some Light,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Update, July 2013
- Author, “New Retirement Plan Disclosures – Are You Ready?,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits & Investment Management Update, July 2011
- “Navigating the Future: Fiduciary Obligations in Health and Welfare Plans – Fiduciary Deep Dive – Part 1,” Thompson Hine webinar, April 2024
- “Review & Preview: 2023 and 2024,” Thompson Hine SECURE 2.0 Deep Dive webinar, November 2023
- “Rethinking the Match: Student Loan Repayments,” Thompson Hine SECURE 2.0 Deep Dive webinar, June 28, 2023
- Presenter, “ERISA’s Five-Part Investment Advice Test – The DOL Changes Course,” Thompson Hine Investment Management Coffee Chat webinar, April 21, 2021
- Presenter, “R.I.P. ESG? Implications of Recent ERISA Guidance on ESG Investing,” Thompson Hine Investment Management Coffee Chat webinar, March 24, 2021
- Monthly speaker/participant, Columbus and Dayton Health Care Reform Roundtables sponsored by Thompson Hine and Chelko Consulting
- “Employee Benefits Update,” Ohio Human Resources Association, Fall 2013
- “Health Care Reform Update,” October 2013
- “Wellness Programs: Complying with the HIPAA Final Regulations on Nondiscriminatory Wellness Programs,” Anthem Pathways to Health Seminar; September 2013
- “Employee Benefits Update,” Ohio Human Resources Association, Spring 2013
- “GBQuarterly: Health Check 2014,” presentation on pay-or-play, March 2013
- “Retirement Plans Update,” Thompson Hine Employee Benefits Breakfast Briefing (Columbus and Dayton), March 2013
- “Health Care Reform 101: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” The Conway Center for Family Business, February 2013
- Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2021-2025 for Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
- Named in The Legal 500, 2019
- Outstanding Lawyer, Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project, 2003
- AV® Preeminent Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
Professional Associations
- ASPPA Benefits Council of Central Ohio, president and board member
- Columbus Bar Association, Employee Benefits Committee member
- Dayton Bar Association Employee Benefits Committee, past chair
Community Activities
- Leadership Columbus, Class of 2014
- Pelotonia participant, 2013, 2014
- Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project, past volunteer
Education
- The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law, J.D., 1998, with honors,
Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution
- Muskingum College, B.A., 1995, summa cum laude
Bar Admissions
- Ohio
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- District Court Blocks DOL Investment Advice Rule – For Now,
Employee Benefits Update
, July 26, 2024 - U.S. Department of Labor Finalizes Major Changes to Its Fiduciary Investment Advice Rule,
Benefits Law Journal
, June 21, 2024 - U.S. DOL Finalizes Major Changes to its Fiduciary Investment Advice Rule,
Employee Benefits Update
, May 1, 2024 - DOL Again Enters the Investment Advice Fray With Proposed Retirement Security Rule,
Employee Benefits Update
, November 14, 2023 - DOL Issues Much-Anticipated Cybersecurity Guidance,
Employee Benefits Update
, April 26, 2021 - Sponsors Should Have a Plan in the Event of a Cyberattack,
PlanSponsor
, March 22, 2021 - DOL Prohibited Transaction Exemption for Participant Investment Advice Passes Review,
Employee Benefits Update
, February 16, 2021 - What’s Old Is New Again: DOL Reinterprets Five-Part Investment Advice Test,
Employee Benefits Update
, February 2, 2021 - DOL Final Rule on Fiduciaries’ Exercise of Proxy Voting and Shareholder Rights,
Employee Benefits Update
, January 29, 2021 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021: Implications for Business,
COVID-19 Update
, December 30, 2020