Christine L. Keller

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.”

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