Designing Compliant Retirement and Executive Compensation Programs

Cher leads the firm’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation practice. She builds benefit programs that move business forward—and stand up to scrutiny. She designs, implements, and maintains complex benefit programs—from retirement and health & welfare plans to equity, deferred compensation, and executive employment and separation agreements—with fluency in Code §§ 409A, 457(f), 280G, and 162(m).  Cher negotiates with the IRS, DOL, and PBGC and turns audits into closure. In deals, she solves ERISA issues—pensions, cash balance, CBAs, retiree health—without slowing the transaction. She guides ACA compliance, wellness, HIPAA, and HITECH. Cher has particular expertise in the defined benefit plan sector, including specialized investment review and “side letter” drafting for governmental and institutional pension plan clients. For companies, nonprofits, health systems, and public entities, her work delivers durable, compliant plans that attract leaders and sustain performance.

Notable Work & Achievements

Cher’s portfolio sits where strategy meets regulation. She advises leading nonprofit health systems and major companies on executive pay, retirement, and health and welfare programs. Her work aligns board priorities with the expectations of the IRS, DOL, and PBGC, keeping plans both competitive and compliant.

In fast moving transactions, Cher leads the benefits workstream. She integrates tax qualified plans, harmonizes union and nonunion benefits, resolves Section 280G and change in control issues, and negotiates executive employment and separation agreements. Closings stay on schedule and leadership stays focused on the deal.

Operationally, Cher redesigns benefits for durability. She has moved clients from legacy defined benefit plans to modern safe harbor 401(k) structures, transitioned recordkeepers, set up ERISA 3(21) fiduciary frameworks, and streamlined vendor contracts including investment advisory and consulting, self-insured ASOs and PBM contracts. The result is lower friction, stronger cost control, and a better participant experience.

When regulators call, Cher moves matters to closure. She handles audits, corrections, and voluntary compliance filings. She also builds HIPAA and HITECH policies and training that help organizations manage privacy and security risk. Her clients include corporations, tax exempt organizations, large health systems, and public bodies. Each engagement requires clear judgment, steady execution, and benefits that perform under pressure.