Bio

Brian 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 is the firm’s Managing Partner for Finance and Operations. Brian represents for-profit, tax-exempt, church, and government employers on matters relating to executive compensation, including Section 409A and the Section 280G golden parachute rules; tax-qualified retirement plans, including cash balance pension plans; 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans; and health and welfare benefit plans. He 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 has assisted employers in seeking approval under various government-sponsored voluntary correction programs, including the 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 also has advised clients on health plan compliance with the HIPAA privacy and security regulations. Brian joined the firm in 1997 following two years as a Tax Law Specialist with the Employee Plans Division of the Internal Revenue Service (National Office). At the IRS, Brian reviewed various types of retirement plans for qualification under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. He also worked extensively in the IRS Voluntary Compliance Resolution program to assist employers in correcting operational failures in their tax-qualified plans.