Mary Reil has 35 years of experience partnering with clients to design and implement employee benefit plans that achieve their objectives in a cost-effective manner. She regularly counsels clients with respect to day-to-day administration of their qualified pension (defined benefit and cash balance) plans, 401(k) plans, ESOPs, nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, severance plans, and welfare benefit plans. Mary has worked with both for-profit and not-for-profit clients in a broad range of industries including automotive, energy, health care, pharmaceutical, construction, agriculture, and entertainment.
Mary has guided many plan sponsors through the IRS error correction program (EPCRS) and Department of Labor correction programs (VFCP and DFVCP) with successful outcomes. A recent success involved negotiating with IRS for a correction under which a plan sponsor with potential exposure in excess of $2 million for operational errors was not required to make any corrective contribution to its defined contribution plan. Mary also has experience advising purchasers and sellers in M&A transactions and joint ventures, in particular, helping purchasers find practical solutions respecting the integration of employee benefit programs post-closing. She also has experience advising businesses with respect to the unique employee benefits and executive compensation issues that arise in connection with bankruptcy and restructuring.
Mary served as vice chair of the Fiduciary Responsibility, Administration and Litigation Committee of the Employee Benefit Plans and Other Compensation Arrangements Group of the American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law. She is also a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, and the WEB Worldwide Employee Benefits Network.
Experience
- Georgetown University (J.D. 1982; Associate Editor, The Tax Lawyer); University of Miami (B.A. in English magna cum laude 1977)
- Ohio, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and U.S. Tax Court