Gary D. Blachman

Practices

• Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation

Professional Experience

Gary is a partner in the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation practice group. He regularly counsels public and private employers in the design and administration of tax-qualified retirement plans and welfare plans. Gary's practice also includes advice on ERISA and employee benefit issues in acquisitions and divestiture transactions, including the design and implementation of post-acquisition benefits. His practice also involves designing, implementing and terminating non-qualified executive compensation arrangements.

Gary has extensive experience assisting plan sponsors with IRS and U.S. Department of Labor audits, government reporting requirements, determination letter filings, private letter ruling requests and voluntary correction programs. His experience also includes compliance with U.S. Department of Labor fiduciary and prohibited transaction rules including plan asset diversification, timely funding of plan contributions, plan fees and expenses, selecting and monitoring service providers, trust documentation and required fee disclosures to participants and beneficiaries.

In addition, Gary handles matters concerning welfare plan administration, COBRA, cafeteria plans and flexible benefit health plans. He also advises on HIPAA related matters such as health coverage portability, health information privacy, data security and administrative simplification.

Prior to joining the firm, Gary worked as an in-house attorney for a regional human resources consulting firm in northwest Ohio and as a pension investigator for the U.S. Department of Labor in Chicago, Illinois.

Gary is admitted to practice in Ohio, Illinois and New Jersey.

Education

• John Marshall Law School, J.D., 1994, Executive Vice Justice, Moot Court Honors Board; Fred F. Herzog Moot Court Competition, Finalist; Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition
• City University of New York, M.B.A., 1991
• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, B.A., 1987

• "Executive Severence Agreements Line By Line: A Detailed Look At Executive Severence Agreements And How To Change Them To Meet Your Client's Needs", Co-Author · Aspatore Books, A Thomson Reuters Business, January 2012
• "Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation, And Non-Disclosure Agreements Line By Line: A Detailed Look At Restrictive Covenants And How To Change Them To Meet Your Client’s Needs", Co-Author · Aspatore Books, a Thomson Reuters Business, November 2011
• "Recent Case Law and Regulatory Developments Affecting Plan Assets and Financial Services" · Inside the Minds, Aspatore Books, a Thomson Reuters Business, 2011 Edition
• "How to Avoid Conflicts of Interest When Selecting Service Providers" · The ASPPA Journal, Fall 2009

• "Recent DOL Guidance, Getting Your Fiduciary House In Order", Thompson Hine LLP Employee Benefits Update, March 2011
• "Recent and Anticipated Health and Welfare Legislation"; Annual Employee Benefit Adviser Summit, Boca Raton, Florida, 2010
• "Operational Aspects of Merging Plans", Annual Forum-National Institute of Pension Administrators, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2010
• "Health Care Reform", ACI National Advanced Compliance Forum on Employee Benefit Plans, New York, New York, 2010
• "My Perfect Retirement Plan Has a Compliance Error -- Now What?", ASPPA Cincinnati Pension Conference, 2009
• "Legal and Regulatory Update", Annual Meeting of Cleveland Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB), 2009
• "Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions", Speaker on Legal Beat segment of Business Beat television program on CET, March 28, 2008
• "Ask the Experts: Panel of IRS Conference Speakers", 18th Annual Cincinnati Bar Association Employee Benefits Conference; Moderator, 2005
• "IRS Final 401(k) Regulations", Great Lakes Area IRS TE/GE Council Meeting - Panelist, 2005
• "How to Survive a U.S. Department of Labor Audit", 17th Annual Cincinnati Bar Association Employee Benefits Conference, 2004
• "The Year in Review - Hot Topics for Retirement and Welfare Plans", Annual Meeting of Cincinnati/Dayton Chapter of the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS), 2003
• "QDROs and Other Pension Law Issues", Toledo Bar Association, Family Law Section, 2000

• Named an Ohio Rising Star by Cincinnati Magazine, 2005 and 2006
• Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers, Class X, 2006