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Like many attorneys who practice employee benefits law,
Christine Keller is often asked to speak on important issues
in the policy-rich field. Unlike many, however, she
relishes the opportunity. “I have played the
violin on and off since I was nine years old,” she
says, “and through that I must have gotten over stage
fright when in front of a group. I’ve spoken
publicly many times and enjoy sharing my knowledge of health
and welfare laws and regulations.”
When Christine talks to groups nowadays, one of her main
themes is that attorneys and clients alike face daunting
new challenges from the increasingly complex regulations
governing employee benefits. “Employers do seem to
be increasingly aware of the need to devote resources to
drafting complete plan documents, updating them—and
staying on top of new DOL and IRS legal requirements,” she
comments, and cites the commitment of Groom’s attorneys
to sharing ideas and expertise across practice groups as
critical to providing clients with what they need: “The
challenge is that there may be several laws that apply to
a particular arrangement such as a group health plan, and
regulations and guidance may be issued by several agencies
at once, including the IRS, DOL, and CMS.”
When Christine refers to the work of federal agencies, she
knows whereof she speaks. After graduating from the
University of New York at Buffalo Law School in 1995 and
before joining Groom in 2001, she practiced for six years
at the Office of Chief Counsel in the Tax Exempt and Government
Entities Division of the IRS. While she worked for
a time in qualified plans litigation, she developed particular
expertise with health and welfare issues, focusing on cafeteria
plans, dependent care assistance, and adoption assistance. One
of the principal authors of the two sets of final cafeteria
plan regulations that the IRS published in 2000 and 2001,
Christine also provided guidance on the effect of the Family
and Medical Leave Act on the operation of those plans.
Now concentrating her attention on tax and
ERISA requirements associated with health and welfare benefits
for a broad range of clients, she draws on the lessons learned
from another longstanding pursuit to assist her in dealing
with the challenges of complex legal work. “I’ve run a few marathons,” she
says, “and understand that even though something may
be painful for a little while, eventually you finish as long
as you persevere.” This attitude has stood her
in good stead with clients involved in lengthy, multi-dimensional
cases. “I have learned that is important to understand
the forces that a client is dealing with,” she states, “and
develop a good relationship with that client. Once that
relationship is in place, helping the client solve problems
is not really ‘work,’ it is simply helping someone
that you like.” |
