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Find Lawyers in Toronto, Ontario for Employee Benefits Law
Practice Area Overview
Pension and employee benefits law is a practice area for lawyers who counsel employers, boards of trustees, unions, and others on legal questions related to several different types of retirement and employee group benefit plans. The largest area of emphasis is on registered pension plans.
This area of law encompasses a wide spectrum of matters, including planning, drafting, and interpreting retirement plan documents, and assisting clients with ongoing administrative and compliance matters; as well as litigation and dispute management. Lawyers also work closely with plan sponsors and administrators on fiduciary duties, tax compliance issues, and various issues related to plan investments. All of this requires working in the human resources area, but also dealing regularly with corporate finance and investment professionals and with government agencies, including the Canada Revenue Agency and various federal and provincial pension regulators.
Some lawyers focus on the litigation and dispute resolution side of pension and employee benefits law, specifically dealing with statutory, common law, and fiduciary duty claims affecting pension and employee benefit plans. They may act for plan members, unions, plan sponsors, administrators, trustees, or service providers. Some claims are framed as class actions or representative proceedings.
Other pension and employee benefits lawyers focus on executive compensation matters including legal issues surrounding equity-based compensation, bonus arrangements, supplemental retirement and deferred compensation plans. Pension and employee benefits law practitioners are also often called upon to identify issues and propose solutions to pension and benefit problems in corporate reorganizations, mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures.
Jennifer is an experienced pension and benefits lawyer with Toronto-based firm, Brown Mills Klinck Prezioso LLP. Jennifer advises employers and plan administrators on all matters related to their pension and benefit plans including administration, governance, plan design, investment and compliance with minimum standards legislation and regulatory policy. Jennifer has worked with all types of pension plans in both the federal and provincial jurisdictions, including multi-employer and jointly s...
Simon Archer likes to get the deal done. He helps trade unions negotiate agreements and settle disputes so that promises are kept – especially pension promises. Simon works to protect the wages, working conditions and retirement security of his clients and their families. To do this, he works with trade unions, retiree associations and boards of trustees across Canada, advising on negotiating pension and benefits, trust administration and fiduciary issues, public interest litigation, in...
Elizabeth Brown is an experienced pension and benefits lawyer with Toronto-based firm, Brown Mills Klinck Prezioso LLP. She advises public and private sector employers on a wide range of regulatory governance, compliance and administration matters relating to pension and employee benefits plans. Elizabeth appears as counsel on pension litigation disputes and has extensive experience advising on large corporate transactions, including insolvencies, mergers and acquisitions, and reorganizations...
Cynthia is the leader of the Pensions and Benefits Practice. She has extensive experience in pension and benefits law, policy and strategy - for 25 years, she has exclusively worked in pension and benefits from alma broad range of perspectives, starting with private practice representing unions, employees and administrators. Cynthia also worked within the Ontario government, within a large jointly sponsored public sector plan and most recently, with Ontario’s new pension regulator on st...
George Dzuro, with his wealth of experience in the areas of corporate, commercial and securities law, adds the dimension of business law to Koskie Minsky. As a member of the firm’s Pension and Employee Benefits Group, George provides legal and compliance advice on investment matters for pension and other benefit funds, as well as corporate, commercial and securities law advice for trade unions, not-for-profit organizations and financial service providers. George graduated first in his L...
Jordan Fremont is a partner in the Pensions & Benefits Group. Jordan regularly advises on a broad range of pensions, benefits and executive compensation matters, with a focus on pension, benefits and compensation plan design, compliance, governance, administration, regulatory investigations, employee and plan member disputes, and business transactions, including downsizings, spin-offs, mergers and acquisitions and wind-ups. Jordan also regularly advises on employment-related tax issues. J...
Ross Gascho practices exclusively in the area of pensions and employee benefits. He advises clients on all aspects of the implementation, administration, funding, communication, investment, governance and wind-up of pension, group benefit and profit-sharing plans. Working with administrators, financial institutions, plan sponsors and trustees, Ross advises on issues in federally and provincially regulated defined benefit and defined contribution plans across the private and public sectors, fo...
Clio Godkewitsch helps individuals and groups of employees and retirees in disputes over their compensation, including pension and other employee benefits. Whether through skillful negotiation or uncompromising litigation, Clio’s aim is to get the best possible outcome for the people she represents. Pension and benefit plan administrators retain Clio to provide practical advice concerning benefit entitlements and communications with plan members. Clio helps them make sure they are provi...
Murray Gold a senior Partner in the pension and benefits practice at Koskie Minsky LLP. Murray advises governing boards of public sector and jointly trusteed pension and benefits plans across Canada in regard to compliance and best-practice issues. He counsels the fiduciary boards of public and private sector pension and benefits plans as well as boards of trustees of multi-employer pension plans. He has led governance and financial restructurings of major public sector pension and benefits a...
James Harnum provides counsel to unions, employees and boards of trustees on all aspects of pension and benefits administration and litigation. A significant part of his practice involves assisting employees of insolvent companies in recovering amounts owed to them, whether for wages, severance pay or post-retirement benefits. James also has experience in litigation involving the intersection of constitutional rights with labour and pension law. He has appeared before all levels of court in O...
Andrew Hatnay is the practice co-ordinator of the firm’s Pensions and Employee Benefits group. He advises employees, retirees, pension plan administrators and unions on all aspects of pension plans, benefit plans and employee compensation, and has special expertise with corporate restructurings and bankruptcy. Andrew is also a litigator and represents clients in insolvency proceedings before all levels of court. Andrew has acted as court-appointed representative counsel for employees an...
Terra L. Klinck is an experienced pension and benefits lawyer with Toronto-based firm, Brown Mills Klinck Prezioso LLP. Terra has over 25 years’ experience advising both provincially- and federally-regulated employers and plan administrators, primarily in the private sector, on all legal issues relating to defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) pension plans, including: governance, fiduciary responsibilities, plan administration and regulatory compliance, funding requirement...
Allyson Marta practises exclusively in the area of Pensions and Benefits law. Her practice focuses on pensions and benefits in corporate transactions, creditor/debtor agreements, and restructurings and insolvencies. She advises clients in both the public and private sectors with respect to pension plan compliance, governance, investments, and administration. Allyson also assists clients with navigating legal and regulatory matters related to retirement and benefit plans more broadly.
Sean Maxwell is a highly experienced lawyer with, having worked on a wide range of legal issues relating to pension and employee benefit plans. In his practice, Sean advises on pension fund investments, plan terminations, ongoing plan administration and compliance issues, disputes over the use of plan assets, development and documentation of pension and employee benefit plans, issues arising from corporate transactions and commercial insolvencies, and adhering to fiduciary duties. Sean also h...
Michael Mazzuca is a Partner in Koskie Minsky’s Pension and Employee Benefits Group. Michael has extensive experience in providing legal advice across Canada to multi-employer pension plans (MEPPs), jointly sponsored pension plans and other jointly governed plans, including health and welfare plans and training funds. He also advises trade unions as well as plan member and retiree groups across Canada concerning legal matters related to plan governance, fiduciary duties and plan investm...
Lindsay is an experienced pension and benefits lawyer with Brown Mills Klinck Prezioso LLP. She has over 15 years of experience providing strategic and practical advice to both provincially and federally regulated employers, sponsors and plan administrators. She advises clients on regulatory compliance, governance and administration matters for registered pension plans and supplemental executive retirement plans (SERPs). She has a wealth of experience advising public and private companies on ...
Natasha Monkman is a pension and benefits lawyer in Hicks Morley’s Toronto office and the chair of the firm’s Pension, Benefits, and Executive Compensation Practice Group. She regularly advises employers on governance, plan administration, investment and compliance matters relating to their employee benefit plans and pension plans. Natasha has advised multiple clients on asset and liability transfers and issues relating to derisking initiatives including annuity purchases. More re...
Pamela is a pension and benefits lawyer with Toronto-based firm, Brown Mills Klinck Prezioso LLP. She maintains a broad practice covering all aspects of pension, benefits and executive compensation law. She regularly provides advice to public and private sector clients on pension plan design, administration, compliance, funding and governance. She also provides advice on corporate transactions, including mergers & acquisitions and reorganizations. Prior to joining BMKP Law, Pamela worked ...
Susan Philpott understands how important pensions and benefits are to the well-being of workers and their families. She has dedicated her career to it. Trade unions across Canada rely on Sue to help them expand workplace pension and benefits coverage, bargain new pensions and benefits arrangements, and navigate through employer insolvencies and restructuring. She also helps pension plan trustees meet their legal obligations to plan members by providing first-rate strategic, governance, and le...
John Prezioso is an experienced pension and benefits lawyer with Toronto-based firm, Brown Mills Klinck Prezioso LLP. He advises employers and plan administrators in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors on compliance, administration and governance issues relating to their pension plans and employee group benefits plans, and issues relating to pension plan investment, de-risking of defined benefit pension plans and decumulation issues in the defined contribution context. John has ext...
Roberto Tomassini is a partner in Koskie Minsky’s Pension and Employee Benefits Group with extensive experience advising and representing employees, unions, plan administrators, trustees and their advisors and consultants regarding all aspects of pension and employee benefit plan structuring, administration, regulatory compliance and fiduciary responsibilities. Roberto has particular expertise relating to income and sales tax issues affecting the design and administration of pension and...
Natasha vandenHoven is a partner and Head of the Pensions & Benefits Group. Her practice focuses on statutory and governmental plans, governance, fiduciary obligations, investment and administration issues, trusts, and compliance matters. In particular, she advises clients on pensions and benefits issues relating to corporate transactions, creditor/debtor agreements, and bankruptcy and insolvency matters. Natasha is experienced in executive compensation and advises clients on matters incl...
J. David Watson is counsel to and a founding member of Watson Jacobs Bosnick LLP. He has appeared on behalf of many trade unions, trust funds, associations and individuals before a wide array of tribunals and courts including Arbitrators and Boards of Arbitration, Federal and Provincial Labour Relations Boards, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and Appeals Tribunal, as well as various other administrative boards. David has also represented clients ...
Cary Wong is an experienced pension and benefits lawyer with Toronto based firm, Brown Mills Klinck Prezioso LLP. Cary has practiced exclusively in the area of pension, benefits and executive compensation law for over 25 years. Cary has a wealth of experience providing advice to employers and plan administrators on legislative and regulatory compliance matters involving pension and benefit plans, including compliance with pension, tax and employment standards legislation. He assists clients w...
Hugh Wright’s practice focuses in the area of pensions and benefits, providing advice to pension plan sponsors, administrators, and service providers on the full range of pension and benefit matters, including related investment matters and the resolution of disputes. He focusses on finding efficient and effective solutions for clients enabling them to navigate the complex regulatory and legal framework in which they operate and realize their strategic and business objectives. Hugh is a...
Mark Zigler is a senior partner in the Pensions and Benefits Group with over 35 years of experience. He also chairs the firm’s class action committee. Mark also served as the firm’s managing partner from 2006 – 2012. Mark advises trustees of pension and benefits trusts as well as unions and groups of employees and pensioners. He has also acted as counsel in many high profile cases and class actions across Canada involving pensions, benefits and other employment related issue...
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