Nashville, Tenn., (September 28, 2022) – Bass, Berry & Sims is pleased to announce that Nashville-based member Douglas W. Dahl, II has been appointed chair of its Employee Benefits Practice Group. The Employee Benefits Practice Group provides comprehensive support to employers on all facets of employee benefits issues and counsels company leadership and boards on a variety of executive compensation arrangements. In this role, Dahl will focus on identifying talent, resources and emerging client needs specific to the employee benefits landscape.
“It is an honor to take on this role to lead a team with such a longstanding reputation for effectively counseling companies in employee benefits and executive compensation matters and being entrusted with such an important part of our clients’ businesses and human capital,” said Dahl. “We look forward to continuing to elevate our ability to serve as trusted partners for our clients, with a focus on further building our talent and services in this area.”
Employee Benefits Practice Group
The Bass, Berry & Sims Employee Benefits Practice Group counsels businesses of all sizes, from start-ups to international Fortune 500 companies, on all aspects of employee benefits programs and executive compensation, including plan design, operational compliance and fiduciary matters under ERISA. The practice group is consistently at the forefront of the most up-to-date legal and business developments affecting its clients’ employee benefit plans and offerings. The group’s experience advising on employee benefit and executive compensation issues in complex transactions, including more than a hundred M&A transactions each year, makes it a leader among even larger peer firms. Its experience with employee benefits issues in the healthcare, retail and manufacturing industries in particular is incredibly strong. In addition, the team regularly counsels individual executives and boards on a wide range of executive compensation arrangements, including both public and private equity incentive plans and offerings.
The group prides itself on its ability to communicate complicated and highly-technical issues in plain language and is committed to providing practical advice and solutions to the myriad of employee benefit issues. With a team that includes former attorneys at key government agencies, including the IRS Office of Chief Counsel and the Department of Labor, the group draws on important experience to provide its clients with unique insights and advice.
The attorneys also counsel ERISA fiduciaries related to their legal duties, including advice regarding participation in government audits, compliance and correction programs, and provide practical and innovative solutions for minimizing fiduciary risk. The team has deep experience in issues affecting health and welfare plans, including guiding employers through the changing landscape for employer-sponsored group health plans under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), HIPAA and the like.
Douglas W. Dahl, II
Dahl focuses his practice on providing technical knowledge and practical advice to companies on a wide range of matters involving employee benefits and executive compensation arrangements, including qualified and nonqualified retirement plans, health and welfare plans and equity incentive plans. He regularly advises companies on employee benefit issues that arise in connection with various corporate transactions and events, such as mergers, acquisitions, and dissolutions. He currently represents companies in various interactions with the IRS, the Department of Labor and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), including correction programs and plan terminations.
Dahl has been involved in employee benefit issues at a national level, working at a large, international law firm and as an attorney with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Office of Chief Counsel in Washington, D.C. He was also a member of the brief-writing teams for amicus briefs filed before the U.S. Supreme Court in two landmark cases involving employee benefits.
Dahl earned an LL.M. in taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center (2007), a law degree from the Samford University Cumberland School of Law (2006) and an undergraduate degree from Kansas State University (2002).
About Bass, Berry & Sims PLC
Bass, Berry & Sims is a national law firm with over 300 attorneys dedicated to delivering exceptional service to numerous publicly traded companies and Fortune 500 businesses in significant litigation and investigations, complex business transactions, and international regulatory matters. Our people are true partners who work seamlessly across substantive practice disciplines, industries and geographies to deliver highly-effective legal advice and innovative, business-focused solutions. In 2022 the firm celebrates its centennial anniversary and continues to build on our foundational attributes of agility, tenacity and collaboration. For more information, visit bassberry2022.wpengine.com.