|
Hugh Forcier's practice focuses on employee benefits and he is located at the Minneapolis office of the law firm of Faegre & Benson. He practices exclusively in the law of employee benefits and executive compensation. Hugh joined the firm in 1969. In his practice, Hugh mainly represents employers, although he also works with providers of financial products and services. Hugh’s practice includes the full range of legal services an employer traditionally expects for employee benefits counsel, including matters related to qualified defined benefit pension plans, profit sharing plans (including 401(k) plans), and money purchase pension plans; nonqualified deferred compensation plans; and health, disability, and life insurance plans. In addition to drafting plan documents and summary plan descriptions, Hugh regularly assists clients with the design of employee benefit plans and the development of employee communication materials. Hugh also counsels clients on implementing benefit plans and responding to the myriad of day-to-day administrative issues that arise. Hugh’s experience in designing employee benefit plans and counselling clients with respect to administrative issues has resulted in substantial experience in resolving operational problems regarding employee benefit plans. Hugh has experience in responding to Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation audit inquiries regarding employee benefit plans. He also has experience using new IRS procedures for resolving operational problems for qualified retirement plans, such as the Voluntary Compliance Resolution (VCR) program. Hugh has requested advisory opinions and prohibited transaction exemptions from the Department of Labor and private letter rulings from the Internal Revenue Service on employee plan issues. Hugh has extensive experience providing opinions and advice on ERISA fiduciary duties and liability issues and ERISA prohibited transactions. He also frequently provides outside counsel opinions as part of the ERISA claims review procedures for numerous different employee benefit plans. Hugh also has experience with arbitration hearings for collectively bargained employee benefit plans. Hugh also has extensive experience with litigation involving employee benefit plans. Such litigation includes claims of breach of ERISA fiduciary duties, claims for negligent performance of services (such as actuarial services or recordkeeping services), and both individual and class action benefit claims. Working with Faegre & Benson litigators, Hugh helps develop the overall litigation strategy, analyzes the ERISA procedural and substantive issues, assists in the preparation of expert testimony and dispositive motions and supporting arguments, and assists in structuring settlements. | 