Experience
Jeff Krueger is a partner of the firm practicing in the Employee Benefits practice group. Jeff designs and drafts and advises clients about the administration of tax qualified retirement plans (including defined benefit, profit sharing, 401(k) and 401(m), money purchase pension plans, and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)), nonqualified deferred compensation plans and cafeteria and welfare plans. Jeff also provides advice regarding tax and fiduciary issues associated with the provision of employee benefits.
Jeff routinely advises clients how to address and resolve compliance issues and participant claims associated with the provision of employee benefits. In the qualified retirement plan area, Jeff assists clients in correcting retirement plan defects under the Internal Revenue Service's Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System and various Department of Labor (DOL) voluntary correction procedures. Jeff has also advised clients about how to respond to DOL audits of their employee benefit plans. In the nonqualified deferred compensation area, Jeff also counsels clients about the IRS's correction procedures for Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 409A violations.
He has significant experience advising clients about how to handle employee benefits matters raised by various types of business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions. Jeff has considerable experience advising employers about participation in multiemployer pension plans and resolution of withdrawal liability disputes with multiemployer pension plans.
Jeff represents clients in a wide range of industries, including health care, energy, engineering and architectural services, manufacturing, child care, retail, forest and food products, and financial services.
Jeff was an associate with Husch & Eppenberger, LLC (1996-1998) and a legal intern for the Honorable Theodore F. McMillian, Eight Circuit Court of Appeals (Spring 1996).
Representative Work
- Assists clients in mergers and spin-offs of qualified retirement plans, including profit sharing, 401(k) and 401(m), and pension plans.
- Advises sponsors about maintenance of multiple employer defined benefit pension and profit sharing plans.
- Advises employers with publicly and privately held equity securities about the maintenance of ESOPs and ESOP-related transactions.
- Assisted employers with amendments and restatements of nonqualified deferred compensation plans to be either exempt from or compliant with Code Section 409A, including:
- Updates of SERPs that provide benefits in excess of Code Section 401(a)(17) limits that apply to qualified pension plans
- Restatements of elective deferral, account balance based plans
- Amendments to executive employment agreements
- Updates to and terminations of phantom stock and stock appreciation right plans
- Restatements of deferred compensation arrangements for tax-exempt employers to qualify for exemptions from Code Section 409A requirements
Professional Honors & Activities
- Listed in Best Lawyers in America® (currently: Employment Benefits Law), 2009-2013
- Member, Western Pension and Benefits Conference
Education
- Washington University School of Law, LL.M., Taxation, 1999
- Washington University School of Law, J.D., 1996
Order of the Coif
- Washington University, St. Louis, A.B., History, 1993, with honors
Phi Beta Kappa
Admissions
- Oregon
- Illinois
- Missouri (inactive)
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