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Joan Neri is counsel on the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Team of the HR Law Practice Group of the firm, and has been associated with the firm since 1988. Her practice focuses on all aspects of employee benefits counseling. Joan advises clients on the design of qualified retirement plans, nonqualified executive compensation plans and welfare benefit plans, day-to-day plan administrative issues and transactional planning involving benefit plan acquisitions, plan mergers and plan terminations. Joan has represented major publicly-held corporations, closely held corporations, U.S. affiliates of foreign corporations and tax-exempt organizations in various matters involving benefits and compensation matters.
Specific employee benefits matters in which Joan has been involved at the firm include the following:
Representation of an unincorporated corporate division in benefits issues associated with the separation of its benefits structure from the benefits structure maintained by the corporation. This representation included drafting the necessary corporate and plan documents associated with the separation, applying for and obtaining a favorable IRS ruling on the separation and counseling on all aspects associated with the day-to-day administration of the separate plans.
Representation of a United States subsidiary of a German parent corporation in reorganization of its benefit plan structure, including various plan mergers and terminations as well as formulation of nonqualified benefit plans for management. She was also loaned to this corporation to serve as its benefits counsel during a transition period, and in that capacity, she worked with both union and management on benefits and compensation matters.
Representation of a hospital in obtaining a favorable IRS ruling on the reorganization of its affiliate boards. She also represents several hospitals on matters involving federal and state tax issues as well as benefits and compensation planning.
Representation of a New York trust company that serves as a trustee of a pension fund to obtain a favorable New Jersey tax opinion from the New Jersey Division of Tax as to the pension fund's ownership of a federally tax-exempt corporation owning New Jersey property.
Representation of a Minnesota bank to obtain a favorable opinion letter from the New Jersey Department of Banking as to intrastate activities to be carried on by the bank through non-banking affiliates in New Jersey.
Day-to-day benefits counseling for major publicly held corporations and closely held companies, including compensation planning for management through nonqualified benefit structures, incentive stock option and nonqualified stock option plans and equity participation (phantom stock) plans.
Representation of major publicly held corporations and closely held companies in issues arising under welfare benefits structures, including cafeteria plan counseling and all matters involving COBRA rights.
Representation of clients in applying to the IRS under the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) to obtain compliance statements for benefit plan defects to preserve the tax qualified status of such plans.
In General. Joan received her bachelor's degree in economics from Douglass College in 1983, where she graduated in three years Phi Beta Kappa with high honors, her J.D. from Seton Hall University in 1986, where she was associate editor of the Seton Hall Law Review and published three articles, and her LL.M. (in taxation) from New York University School of Law in 1989. Prior to joining the firm, she had been employed with the public accounting firm of Touche Ross & Company as a member of the Tax Department.
Joan lectures in the fields of employee benefits and executive compensation to a variety of audiences in New Jersey. She currently is a member of the Employee Benefits Committee and the Taxation Committee of both the New Jersey Bar Association and the American Bar Association and is also a member of WEB (Working in Employee Benefits). | 