Alston & Bird has bolstered its employee benefits and executive compensation services with the addition of former U.S. Treasury Department attorney Dominic DeMatties as partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. He is the fifth attorney with significant government experience to join the office since the start of the year.
In his role at Treasury, where he served as an Attorney-Advisor in the Office of the Benefits Tax Counsel since 2012, DeMatties helped develop tax policies and guidance related to qualified and nonqualified deferred compensation plans. His work focused on guidance and policy related to employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), hybrid pension plans, governmental plans, 409A, 457(f), nondiscrimination, multiemployer plans and a variety of issues relating to single-employer defined benefit plans. He played a leading role in developing regulations and other guidance implementing the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 and providing legal advice to the team charged with analyzing applications received under the law.
“Dominic has been at the center of federal rulemaking that in recent years has brought significant change to retirement plans and executive compensation arrangements,” said David Godofsky, Alston & Bird partner and leader of its Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group. “His deep knowledge of policy, legislation and regulation will significantly benefit our clients who rely on us for strategic, board-level advice on crucial benefits and compensation issues, as well as day-to-day support on complex benefits matters.”
DeMatties, who was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP before moving to Treasury, advises across a spectrum of employee benefits and compensation issues, including both compliance and transactional matters. He has significant practical and policy experience related to executive compensation and to tax-qualified retirement plans, in particular those that are on the leading edge of design trends and that are subject to the most regulatory attention, such as cash balance plans, variable annuity plans and 401(k) plans that include lifetime income products. He also has significant experience with employee benefits matters arising in mergers and acquisitions.
“Dominic’s arrival continues the recent expansion of our D.C. office and our focus on adding top attorneys with prominent government experience to give clients insight into how Washington works,” said Dennis Garris, partner in charge of Alston & Bird’s Washington, D.C., office. “He adds outstanding legal and policy credentials to our team and depth in federal regulatory experience as we grow that area of our benefits practice.”
Since the start of the year, the firm has made several prominent attorney appointments in Washington. In addition to DeMatties, the office has added partners Leslie Overton; a former senior U.S. Justice Department antitrust official; Jackie Baratian, a past senior counsel in the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Tom Feddo, a former official in Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The office also added counsel Ted Schroeder, a former senior aide to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.
In joining Alston & Bird, DeMatties further enhances the firm’s market-leading benefits and compensation capabilities, which have gone from strength to strength in recent years. In 2016, U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” awarded Alston & Bird “Law Firm of the Year” honors for ERISA Litigation and in 2015 recognized the firm as “Law Firm of the Year” for Employee Benefits (ERISA).
In his role at Treasury, where he served as an Attorney-Advisor in the Office of the Benefits Tax Counsel since 2012, DeMatties helped develop tax policies and guidance related to qualified and nonqualified deferred compensation plans. His work focused on guidance and policy related to employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), hybrid pension plans, governmental plans, 409A, 457(f), nondiscrimination, multiemployer plans and a variety of issues relating to single-employer defined benefit plans. He played a leading role in developing regulations and other guidance implementing the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 and providing legal advice to the team charged with analyzing applications received under the law.
“Dominic has been at the center of federal rulemaking that in recent years has brought significant change to retirement plans and executive compensation arrangements,” said David Godofsky, Alston & Bird partner and leader of its Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group. “His deep knowledge of policy, legislation and regulation will significantly benefit our clients who rely on us for strategic, board-level advice on crucial benefits and compensation issues, as well as day-to-day support on complex benefits matters.”
DeMatties, who was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP before moving to Treasury, advises across a spectrum of employee benefits and compensation issues, including both compliance and transactional matters. He has significant practical and policy experience related to executive compensation and to tax-qualified retirement plans, in particular those that are on the leading edge of design trends and that are subject to the most regulatory attention, such as cash balance plans, variable annuity plans and 401(k) plans that include lifetime income products. He also has significant experience with employee benefits matters arising in mergers and acquisitions.
“Dominic’s arrival continues the recent expansion of our D.C. office and our focus on adding top attorneys with prominent government experience to give clients insight into how Washington works,” said Dennis Garris, partner in charge of Alston & Bird’s Washington, D.C., office. “He adds outstanding legal and policy credentials to our team and depth in federal regulatory experience as we grow that area of our benefits practice.”
Since the start of the year, the firm has made several prominent attorney appointments in Washington. In addition to DeMatties, the office has added partners Leslie Overton; a former senior U.S. Justice Department antitrust official; Jackie Baratian, a past senior counsel in the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Tom Feddo, a former official in Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The office also added counsel Ted Schroeder, a former senior aide to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.
In joining Alston & Bird, DeMatties further enhances the firm’s market-leading benefits and compensation capabilities, which have gone from strength to strength in recent years. In 2016, U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” awarded Alston & Bird “Law Firm of the Year” honors for ERISA Litigation and in 2015 recognized the firm as “Law Firm of the Year” for Employee Benefits (ERISA).