Griffin, Sarah Heck

Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Sarah Griffin advises employers on the full range of tax and ERISA issues concerning the employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements they sponsor. She counsels in-house legal departments, plan committees, compensation and benefits specialists, investment advisors, and human resources professionals with respect to the design, governance, and administration of corporate benefit programs and the investment of employee benefit plan assets. She has extensive experience in welfare plans, including VEBAs, severance and retiree health, fringe benefits, nonqualified deferred compensation plans, and qualified retirement plans. In the context of M&A transactions, joint ventures, and financings, Sarah works with clients to achieve their overall transaction strategy, including with respect to executive employment agreements and compensation packages and transitioning of employee plans. She also advises California governmental entities and retirement systems regarding the state's pension laws and the common law of trusts.

Sarah's representative clients include Allergan, Los Angeles County, LAUSD, and Sempra Energy. She has advised a Fortune 500 company in the course of a significant Department of Labor investigation and settlement related to the reimbursement of expenses from plan assets.

Sarah is a member of the University of Colorado at Boulder Law School Alumni Board and is past president of the board of directors for the Los Angeles County Bar Association Foundation. She is a member of the ABA, the State Bar of California, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

Areas of Practice

• Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
• Health Care
• Compensation & Benefits Counseling for Employers
• ERISA Plan Asset Investments
• ESOPs & Other Stock-Based Plans
• ERISA & Other Employee Benefits Litigation
• Executive Compensation
• Governmental Employers & Public Pension Plans
• Institutional Fiduciary Services
• Mergers & Acquisitions/Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
• Tax-Exempt Entities & Church Plans
• Tax & Benefits/Health Care
• Financial Services

Representative Cases

• Alameda County Employees' Retirement Association engages Firm for tax and pension advice
• CalPERS seeks advice regarding California State Pension law
• Capital BlueCross acquires interest in Keystone Health Plan Central
• Celgene to buy Gloucester Pharmaceuticals for $640 million to bolster its anticancer drug pipeline
• Contra Costa County seeks advice on tax consequences of plan design
• County of Los Angeles seeks advice on tax and state pension law matters
• Deutsch Company seeks representation of plan sponsor in the design and administration of plans
• Deutsch Company sells Deutsche Metal Components and Permaswage , (2009)
• Ellison Technologies is acquired by Mitsui and Mori Seiki
• Fortune 500 company seeks advice on the use of plan assets to pay administrative expenses
• Fortune 500 company's benefit plan is audited by DOL , (2009)
• Hamilton Lane Carpenters Partnership forms $527.5 fund
• Ignite Innovations places shares with investor group
• In-house asset manager seeks advice in negotiation of alternative equity investments and private equity transactions
• In-house asset manager seeks ERISA advice
• Institutional investor further invests in FFC Partners
• Institutional investor invests in FFC Partners
• Institutional investor invests in Hellman & Friedman Capital
• Institutional investor invests in Oak Investment Partners
• International accounting and legal professional service partnerships seek advice on retirement and welfare benefits , (2009)
• Large governmental contractor purchases stock of closely held company
• Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System seeks advice on fiduciary duty, governance and conflicts of interest issues
• Los Angeles Unified School District seeks advice on tax and state pension law matters
• Merced County Employees Retirement Association seeks advice on tax and state pension law matters
• Multiple public pension plans seek advice on ERISA investments
• Neoware acquired by Hewlett-Packard
• Northstar Aerospace seeks advice on plan design and administration
• PeerLogic merges with Critical Path
• PeerLogic seeks advice on executive compensation issues in the sale of stock
• PNC Equity, Primus Venture Partners acquire DecisionQuest
• Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado invests in Asian property fund
• Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado invests in French property fund
• Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado invests in U.S. property funds
• Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado participates in co-investment partnership to purchase Savoy Hotel Group
• Quigo Technologies places Series B Stock to investor group
• Registered investment advisers seek advice on plan assets
• San Diego County Employees Retirement Association seeks advice regarding tax and state pension law issues
• Santa Barbara County Employee's Retirement System seeks advice on design of administrative services
• Saunders Karp & Mergrue designs employment and separation agreements
• Scudder Venture Partners forms $200 million VC fund
• SKM acquires Schilling companies
• SKM restructures All-In-One Products and USA Printing & Mailing
• T.M. Cobb Company acquires Craftmaster Manufacturing
• The Deutsch Group completes sale to WENDEL Investissement , (2009)
• Trillium Digital seeks counsel on executive compensation and equity plan issues in the sale of stock
• TSG Consumer Partners acquires 50% of Meguiar's
• Verizon Wireless seeks advice on application of USERRA to incentive plans
• Worldwide Restaurant Concepts seeks ERISA advice

West Practice Categories

Affirmative Action -- Employee, Americans with Disabilities Act -- Employee, Business Organizations, Disability, Elder Law, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) -- Employee, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) -- Employer, Employee Rights -- Employee, Employment Contracts -- Employee, Employment Discrimination -- Employee, Employment Law -- Employee, Employment Law -- Employer, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) -- Employee, Federal Employer,'s Liability Act (FELA) -- Employee, Food & Drug Administration, Health & Health Care Law, Hospital Law, Medicare & Medicaid, Mental Health, Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures, Municipal Employment -- Employee, Municipal Employment -- Employer, Nursing Home, Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA) -- Employee, Pensions, Benefits & Compensations -- Employee, Pensions, Benefits & Compensations -- Employer, Sexual Harassment -- Employee, Social Security -- Disability, Taxation Law, Wage & Hour Laws -- Employee, Whistleblower -- Employee, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act -- Employee, Wrongful Termination -- Employee

Bar Admissions

• California
• Colorado

Education

• U of Colorado - Boulder (Main)
• U of Southern California

Published Works

• COBRA Strike 3: Another Extension of COBRA Subsidy, 2010
• Extension of COBRA Subsidy for Assistance Eligible Individuals, 2010
• 2010 Open Enrollment Alert – Under GINA No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, 2009
• Warning to Employers: If Your Health Risk Assessment Violates GINA, You May Have to Tell the IRS (and Pay Excise Taxes), 2009
• Health Plan Open Enrollment Alert—No Reward Goes Unpunished, 2009
• Group Health Plan Continuation Coverage: Fast Action Required To Comply with New COBRA Premium Assistance Requirements, 2009
• Everything You Always Wanted to Know About a Public Employer's Ability to Modify Retiree Benefits but Were Too Afraid to Ask, 2008
• Changes to California Rules Relating to Equity Compensation Plans, 2007
• An Impending Collision at the Intersection of Code Section 457 and Code Section 409A, 2007
• 2005 California Employment Law Legislative Update, 2005
• 2004 California Employment Law Legislative Update, 2004
• California Senate Bill 2 (2003), 2004
• IRS Sheds some Light on Recent COBRA Amendments, CCH Employee Benefits Management Directions, Issue No. 176, Report No. 175, 1998
• CCH COBRA Guide Connections, Issue No. 61, Report No. 61, 1998

Address

555 South Flower Street
Fiftieth Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071-2300

Phones

1.213.243.2560 (Business Phone)

Faxes

1.213.243.2539 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

http://www.jonesday.com