Press Release 04.04.24
Colleen E. Lamarre
Partner
Partner, San Francisco & Silicon Valley
T: +1.415.983.1056
T: +1.650.233.4500
Colleen Lamarre concentrates her practice on employee benefits (ERISA) and executive compensation matters. She advises employers regarding the design, documentation, compliance and administration of retirement, health and welfare plans.
Colleen also assists clients with government audits, investigations, reporting and employer disclosure obligations. She regularly advises clients on health and welfare plan design and compliance with ERISA, EEOC requirements, and the ACA. Colleen counsels clients on fiduciary matters in connection with the investment of employee benefit plan assets and employee benefits issues arising in corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions. She also regularly advises clients in executive compensation matters, such as compensation and incentive arrangements, including compliance with Internal Revenue Code §409A.
Representative Experience
- Represents clients in corporate transactions, drafting and designing non-qualified executive compensation agreements and plans, including equity and non-equity arrangements.
- Advises on remediation of Section 409A violations involving stock options, stock units and other nonqualified deferred compensation plans.
- Assists clients in designing, adopting and operating tax-favored employee benefit plans (including defined benefit and defined contribution plans) and welfare plans.
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- Advises clients on complex aspects of the Affordable Care Act (including the Employer Mandate and ACA reporting compliance), COBRA, HIPAA, ERISA, and the Internal Revenue Code.
- Supports employers in correcting 401(k) retirement plan failures under the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System and DOL Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program.
- Drafts qualified domestic relations order procedures and reviews domestic relations orders with respect to division of qualified plan participants’ benefits.
- Counsels plan sponsors and investment committees regarding investment policy statements and trust agreements.
- Advises clients on complex multiemployer plan withdrawal liability issues.
Professional Highlights
Presentations
- 401(k) Plan Issues in Stock Purchase M&A Transactions: Plan Termination, Plan Merger and Other Alternatives, CLE Webinar, October 2023.
- ABA and National Affinity Bars Equity Webinar, February 2021
- “Expanded Opportunities for Equity Compensation Plans for Private Companies,” Pillsbury’s 2021 California CLE Marathon Webinar, January 2021.
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- “Why We Need More Native Attorneys,” Pipeline to Law Initiative: Native American Law School Admissions Workshops, U.C. Berkeley School of Law, June 2019.
- “The Affordable Care Act for the General Practitioner,” Bar Association of Erie County, Continuing Legal Education, March 2015.
- “Dartmouth College Career Panel on Law School and Careers in the Law,” Dartmouth Lawyers Association Event, Dartmouth College, September 2014.
- “The Basics of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” Health Care Reform Seminar, July 2013.
- Publications
- “Owning the Center of the Earth: Hydraulic Fracturing and Subsurface Trespass in the Marcellus Shale Region,” 21 CORNELL L.J. & PUB. POL’Y 457 (2011).
- Associations
- Chair, American Bar Association’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession
- Western Pension & Benefits Council
- Past-President, National Native American Bar Association and National Native American Bar Foundation
- National Affiliate Representative to the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Council, National Native American Bar Association
- Board Member, National Native American Bar Association Foundation
- ABA Young Lawyers Division, Council Member
- Honors & Awards
- Recognized by Best Lawyers (published by BL Rankings LLC) Ones to Watch, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law (2023 – 2024).
Education
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LL.M., (in Taxation), New York University School of Law, 2012
J.D., Cornell Law School, 2011
A.B., Dartmouth College, 2007
Admissions
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California
New York
Languages
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German