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Lowell Walters helps business owners receive beneficial tax treatment for their retirement and welfare plans by working with plan administrators, the IRS, Department of Labor or other regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and the Florida Bureau of Consumer Assistance to ensure employee benefit plans are drafted and operated in compliance with the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and State law. This includes correcting plans when an earlier error is discovered. Lowell was born and raised in Long Island, New York. He gained admission to the New York and New Jersey bars after graduating from Brooklyn Law School. He passed the Florida Bar after receiving his Master of Laws in Taxation (LL.M. - Taxation) at the University Of Miami School Of Law. Before joining GrayRobinson's employee benefits department, Lowell was in Boca Raton, Florida practicing in the tax department of the national full-service law firm of Butzel Long, headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Lowell is married with two children, and continuously strives to properly balance his devotion to his clients with his devotion to his family. Retirement Plan Experience 401(a) Plans (money purchase pension plans, profit sharing plans, traditional and cash balance defined benefit plans) 401(k) Plans (including safe harbor, cross-tested, and automatic enrollment plans) 403(b) Plans (ERISA and non ERISA) 457(b) Plans (governmental and tax-exempt) 457(f) Plans 409A Nonqualified Plans Welfare Plan Experience 125 Cafeteria Plans ERISA-only Plans Wrap Documents NonERISA Individual or Voluntary Plans Medical Reimbursement Plans (HRAs, FSAs, HSAs) Self-insured Medical Plans Commercially-insured Medical Plans Stop-loss Insurance Various other Welfare Plan Arrangements (including Wellness Programs, Dependant Care Assistance Programs, Adoption Assistance Programs, Vacation Pay Conversion Programs, and Education Assistance Programs) Selected Skills Plan drafting and amending Retirement plan mergers, acquisitions, and terminations (nongovernmental and governmental, including FRS transfers) Benefit planning (tailoring welfare benefits to the individual employer) Benefit reductions Plan terminations Nondiscrimination General retirement and welfare plan compliance Welfare plan 5500 planning Welfare plan audits Structuring nonERISA individual or voluntary welfare benefits Compliance with requirements such as COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA, USERRA, ADA, ADEA, and PHSA Retiree Healthcare Issues Related employment tax issues Various other administrative issues Education: University of Miami School of Law, LL.M. (Taxation, 2000) Brooklyn Law School, J.D., (1996) Rutgers College of Rutgers University, B.A., (1993) Professional Memberships: The Florida Bar Association Labor & Employment Law Section (Publications Subcommittee) Governmental Section Tax Section Hillsborough County Bar Association Labor and Employment Section Tax Section Tampa Bay Pension Council Florida West Coast Benefits Council (President, 2007-2008) New Tax Professionals Association (Co-chair, 2006) Civic Organizations: Hillsborough County Consumer Protection Board (2004-2007) (Chairman, 2007) Tampa Connection (2002-2003) Tampa Connection Alumni Association (2003-2004) Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce (2002-2004) Leadership Tampa Bay (2005) Publications and Presentaions: Employee Benefit Hot Topics, Florida Bar Tax Section Annual Tax Review (Speaker - February, 2008) Health Insurance and Savings - No Longer Mutually Exclusive, Sarasota-Manatee Human Resources Association (Speaker - February, 2008) RETIREE HEALTHCARE: Righting the Sinking Financial Ship, Florida Public Pension Trustees Association, Trustees School (Speaker - January, 2008) Using Benefits to Attract and Retain Employees, Community Foundation Of Greater Lakeland, Educational Forum (Speaker - December, 2007) What's In Your Employee Benefits Toolbox?, Ocala Human Resource Management Association (Speaker - January, 2008); HR Tampa, Expo and Legal Conference (Speaker - September, 2007) Employment Lawyer's HIPAA Guide, The Checkoff, The Florida Bar Labor & Employment Law Section (June, 2007) Taxation of Damage Awards, The Lawyer, Hillsborough County Bar Association (April, 2007)
Pensions & Social Security, Windfalls & Offsets, Florida Public Pension Trustees Association, Trustees School (Speaker - October, 2006) Misclassified Employees: Don't Forget the Fringe Benefits, The Checkoff, The Florida Bar Labor & Employment Law Section (July/August, 2006) Social Security: The Optional Tax, Florida Public Pension Trustees Association, Trustees School (Speaker - January, 2006; October, 2005) COBRA Overview, Global Labor and Employment Law Handbook, Employment Law Alliance (2005) HSAs: A Potential Solution, Fall 2005 Employment Law Seminar (Speaker - October, 2005) Pension Issues Facing Public Plans, Florida Public Pension Trustees Association (Speaker - June, 2005) When Income is Taxed Prior to Receipt, The Lawyer, Hillsborough County Bar Association (May, 2005) COBRA Issues with Reimbursement Plans, The Lawyer, Hillsborough County Bar Association (February, 2005) Legal Overview of the Pension Plan Environment, New Tax Professionals Association (Speaker - November, 2004) Is There A COBRA Lurking In Your Clients Reimbursement Plans?, The Practical Tax Lawyer, ALI-ABA (Fall 2004) Employer Obligations Towards Veterans, The Brevard Reporter (June 24, 2004) Federal Tax Update, Helping Your Clients' Businesses Succeed: Sales and Use Tax Planning, The HCBA Young Lawyer (Summer 2004) HSAs: Tax Qualified Savings Accounts for Medical Expenses, The Lawyer, Hillsborough County Bar Association (March, 2004) Federal Tax Update, Florida Public Pension Trustees Association (Speaker - January, 2004) USERRA: Employment and Retirement Rights and Obligations, Benefitslink (April, 2003).
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