Brian M. Pinheiro is the Practice Leader of Ballard Spahr’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group and has served as Chair of the firm’s Business and Transactions Department.
He represents for-profit, tax-exempts, church, and government employers on matters relating to executive compensation, and health and welfare benefit plans.
Brian focuses on compliance with the statutory and regulatory rules relating to such plans, including rules arising out of ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, HIPAA, COBRA, and the ADEA. He advises boards of directors and compensation committees on the design and operations of executive compensation arrangements, and he counsels retirement plan investment committees on ERISA fiduciary issues. He has represented employers before the IRS, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and his assisted employers in seeking approval under various government-sponsored voluntary correction programs, including IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) and the DOL Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP). Brian has advised clients extensively on strategies and compliance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He has advised clients on health plan compliance with the HIPAA privacy and security regulations.
Brian joined Ballard Spahr in 1997 following two years as a Tax Law specialist with the Employee Plans Division of the Internal Revenue Service (National Office). He also worked extensively with the IRS Voluntary Compliance Resolution program to assist employers in correcting operational failures in their tax-qualified plans.