Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

 John C. Khil is the Chair of the firm's Tax, Trusts & Estates, Pension & Benefit Plans, and Labor & Employment sections, and concentrates in tax law with an emphasis on pensions, profit sharing and employee benefits. He is a former attorney-advisor in the Employee Plans and Exempt Organizations Division, Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C., where he was responsible for providing legal opinions, drafting Treasury regulations, and assisting in the formulation of tax legislation relating to pension and welfare plans. Mr. Khil lectures on employee benefit matters and is active in the Employee Benefits Committee of the American Bar Association Section on Taxation. He has been a member of the Subcommittee on ESOP's, TRASOP's, and PAYSOP's, the Task Force on Welfare Benefits Funds, and the Subcommittee on Special Compensation Problems of Small Businesses.

Examples of his recent work include:

Qualified Retirement Plans Advise hundreds of employers in the tax treatment and fiduciary obligations relating to the design, investment, and maintenance of plans, including profit sharing, 401(k), money purchase, defined benefit, target benefit, age-weighted, cash balance, ESOPs, and other plans.

Executive Compensation Advise public and private corporations in nonqualified deferred compensation plans and executive compensation, including SERPs stock options, stock appreciation rights, phantom stock, rabbi trusts, golden parachutes, and excess benefit plans.

Employee Stock Ownership Plans Handle leveraged employee stock ownership plan transactions for public corporations from acquisition of stock to disposition of stock upon takeover. Structure succession of closely held corporations through tax-deferred sale of stock to ESOPs.

Collectively Bargained Pension & Welfare Trust Funds Advise jointly administered Taft Hartley welfare and pension funds, including qualified 401(k), pension, and VEBA plans, on all facets of tax, fiduciary, and ERISA law compliance.

Prototype Plan Sponsors Represent financial institution in obtaining favorable closing agreement with IRS for failure to timely adopt and amend prototype retirement plan and IRA documents on behalf of customers.

Exempt Organizations Advise tax-exempt health care organizations and other charitable entities in compliance with special deferred compensation requirements such as Sections 457 and 403(b).

Funding Waiver Obtain $30 million pension plan funding waiver from IRS relating to employer's financial distress. Structure hundreds of plan terminations and obtain IRS and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) approvals.

Window Benefit Program Advise public corporation in structure and implementation of early retirement window benefit program, including treatment of age discrimination issues.

Postretirement Medical Plan Advise employers on postretirement medical benefits, cost containment methods, and funding methods for purposes of FAS 106. Draft VEBA and nonqualified plans providing postretirement medical benefits.

Areas of Practice

• Tax, Estate Planning & Wealth Management
• Pension & Profit Sharing
• ERISA & Employee Benefits

West Practice Categories

Pensions, Benefits & Compensations -- Employee, Employment Law -- Employee, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) -- Employee, Non-profit & Tax-exempt Organizations, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) -- Employer, Pensions, Benefits & Compensations -- Employer

Bar Admissions

• Hawaii

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association, Committee on Employee Benefits (Member, Section of Taxation)
• Hawaii State Bar Association (Member)
• American Bar Association, Subcommittee on ESOP's, TRASOP's, and PAYSOP's, and the Task Force on Welfare Benefits Funds (Member)
• American Bar Association, Subcommittee on Special Compensation Problems of Small Businesses (Member)

Classes and Seminars

• Lecturer, Employee Benefit Matters

Past Employment Positions

• Internal Revenue Service, Office of Chief Counsel, Attorney-Advisor, Employee Plans and Exempt Organizations Division

Education

• Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, District of Columbia
  L.M.M., Taxation
• University of San Francisco School of Law, San Francisco, California
  J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence
• University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii
  B.S., Bachelor of Science
  Honors: summa cum laude
  Honors: High Honors
  Major: Economics

Address

ASB Tower
Suite 2200
1001 Bishop Street
Honolulu, HI 96813

Phones

808.523.2512

Faxes

808.523.0842

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.carlsmith.com