Helen N. Cleveland
(404) 760-2792 | Direct Dial
(404) 233-2404 | Firm Facsimile
hcleveland@reslawfirm.com
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Practice Areas
• Employee Benefits
• Retirement Plans
• Health and Welfare Plans
• Executive Benefits
• Severance Arrangements
• VEBAs
• Reductions in Force
• Funding Waivers
• Distress and Standard Plan Terminations
• Plan Governance and Fiduciary Responsibility
• Compliance Resolution
• Plan Conversion
• Qualified Domestic Relations Orders
• HIPAA Compliance
• Corporate Governance
• Union Negotiations
• Arbitration and Litigation
• Benefit Claims
• Fiduciary Issues
Education
J.D., Emory University School of Law, 1976
B.A., summa cum laude, Georgia State University 1974
Bar Admissions
Atlanta Bar Association
American Bar Association
State Bar of Georgia
Memberships
Fellow, Int'l Society of Certified Employee Benefits Specialists (CEBS)
Founding member, Board of Directors of the Georgia Chapter of CEBS
Articles
“Drafting the Plan Document; Should Your Malpractice Carrier Be Worried?” - ERISA and Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 4, Issue 1, 1996
“Qualified Domestic Relations Orders; A Delicate Balancing Act for Employers,” - ERISA and Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 2, Issue 2, 1993
Experience
Helen has over twenty-five years of experience in employee benefit matters. She is formerly a Principal at the global employee benefits and human resources consulting firm, Towers Perrin and has extensive experience with all types of retirement, health and welfare, executive benefit, and severance plans. Her expertise includes:
• Design, drafting, communication and implementation of all types of retirement and welfare plans
• Design, drafting, communication and implementation of all types of executive compensation arrangements, including deferred compensation plans, directors plans, stock plans, long-term incentive plans retirement and welfare plans
• Conversion of one type of plan into another type plan
• Funding and investment policies for retirement plans and VEBAs
• Due diligence for mergers and acquisitions and the merger of employee benefits plans
• Full-scale and limited-scope internal compliance audits
• IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System
• DOL’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program and Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program
• PBGC audits for plan termination
• PBGC negotiations for distress termination
• Design and implementation of voluntary and involuntary reduction-in-force programs
• Early retirement window programs
• Plant closings and mass layoffs
• Training benefits personnel to administer plans in compliance with applicable laws to avoid and/or resolve administrative defects
• Assistance to employers to identify plan fiduciaries, to define their fiduciary duties, and to insulate selected executives and/or board members from fiduciary liability
• Union negotiations of employee benefits issues
• Arbitration and litigation support in employee benefits disputes
• Design and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the HIPAA Rule and the HIPAA Security Regulations for group health plan sponsors and for health care providers
• Negotiation and resolution of benefits claim disputes
Following her judicial clerkship, Helen was employed at Trotter, Bondurant, Griffin, Miller and Hishon, and at Fisher & Phillips, where she specialized in corporate, employment, and employee benefits law. She was a principal and a legal employee benefits consultant at Towers Perrin until 2002, when she resumed the practice of law with Crowley, Cleveland & Starkey, LLC. Helen is a frequent speaker and has published several articles on employee benefits issues.
