Allison Itami is an experienced attorney specializing in employee benefit programs. She regularly advises on compliance with fiduciary laws, particularly provisions of ERISA and Internal Revenue Code. Allison frequently advises on state laws applicable to public employee benefits.
She provides counsel on retirement plans and products including IRAs. Additionally, she is well-versed in the application of fiduciary laws to health and welfare benefit offerings. This includes a niche focus on captive insurance and re-insurance in health and welfare benefits, and she is frequently referred clients by other law firms who lack the necessary expertise in the topic.
Allison’s dedication to her clients’ success is evident in her commitment to understanding their unique needs and providing tailored solutions. Her work includes:
- Advocating for clients in interactions with the Department of Labor on investigations and audits, proposed regulations, advisory opinions, and prohibited transaction exemptions.
- Assistance with complex corporate transactions impacting benefit programs and products such as acquisitions, spin-offs, and bankruptcy.
- Legal due diligence for selecting service providers and investment options.
- Guidance on data privacy and cyber-security provisions in service contracts, post-incident actions, and the use of plan data.
Allison spends time with her family in their urban vegetable garden. She also enjoys woodworking, particularly building complex, three-dimensional puzzles.
Representative Matters
Allison’s representation of her clients includes:
- Counseled a broker-dealer to create and launch IRA services as an entirely new line of business.
- Assisted a utility plan sponsor with a company stock fund in their retirement plan through a multi-billion dollar bankruptcy plan of reorganization.
- Obtained relief from the Department of Labor on a captive reinsurance transaction for a welfare plan.
- Counseled broker-dealers and registered investment advisers on providing investment advice to retail customers with IRAs.
- Counseled start-ups on the interaction of retirement laws with non-traditional assets, such as cryptocurrency.
- Provided general counsel to a fully-funded governmental pension plan.