Martin P. Tierney is a shareholder in the firm's Employee Benefits Practice Area. He counsels a wide range of national and global corporate clients on the complexities of executive compensation, tax qualified retirement plans, health and welfare plans, payroll taxes, and employee benefits matters in mergers and acquisitions. He represents clients facing IRS and Department of Labor audits and also helps clients in preemptive actions, including internal plan audits and self-correction. Martin has become a noted speaker and author on executive compensation and nonqualified deferred compensation issues.
Representative Matters and Experience
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Executive Compensation - Creates and restructures executive compensation arrangements (e.g., stock option, phantom stock, elective deferral, supplemental executive retirement plans) and employment agreements to meet clients' incentive compensation goals and to comply with relevant tax rules
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Employee Benefits Plans in Mergers and Acquisitions - Guides multinational corporations through merger and acquisition issues with respect to their employee benefit and executive compensation arrangements, including employee benefits due diligence, golden parachute analysis, deduction timing analysis, and post-merger integration
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Compliance Reviews - Conducts compliance reviews that identify and correct legal, tax and fiduciary problems in the administration of retirement and other plans
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Health and Welfare Plans - Counsels clients on health and welfare plans, severance plans, cafeteria plans, retiree health benefits, Flexible Savings Accounts (FSAs), Healthcare Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
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Payroll Taxes - Assists clients with complicated payroll tax compliance and correction issues
Notable Publications
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Better Lucky Than Good? Written Plan Document Failures Under Code Section 409A, Journal of Pension Benefits (Autumn 2011, Volume 19, Number 1)
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A Review of the New Information Document Requests Addressing Code Section 409A, Journal of Pension Benefits (Winter 2010, Volume 17, Number 2)
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Squeezing the Vise: The impact of Code Section 409A on Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Arrangements Linked to Qualified Retirement Plans, Journal of Pension Benefits (Winter 2009, Volume 16, Number 2)
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Substantial Rick of Forfeiture: Surfing in the Perfect Storm, Journal of Pension Benefits (Winter 2008, Volume 15, Number 2)
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Section 409A Final Regulations: An Overview of the Transition Rules, Journal of Pension Benefits (Summer 2007, Volume 14, Number 4)
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All About Payment Events Under Code Section 409A, Part 1, Journal of Pension Benefits (Summer 2006, Volume 13, Number 4), Part 2, Journal of Pension Benefits (Autumn 2006, Volume 14, Number 1), Part 3, Journal of Pension Benefits (Winter 2007, Volume 14, Number 2)
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409A Traps and Tricks, Journal of Pension Benefits (Autumn 2005, Volume 13, Number 1)
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Nonqualified Plans – Once More Unto the Breach, Dear Friends, Journal of Pension Benefits (Spring 2005, Volume 12, Number 3)
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Withholding Judgment: Withholding on Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans, Journal of Pension Benefits (Summer 2004, Volume 11, Number 4)
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Death of an Insurance Salesman: Is the Future of Split-Dollar Life Insurance in Jeopardy? Journal of Pension Benefits (Winter 2003, Volume 10, Number 2)
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Tax Treatments for Employment Case Settlements, Part 1, Wisconsin Law Journal (December 11, 2002); Part 2, Wisconsin Law Journal (December 18, 2002)
Presentations
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Tax Aspects of Health Care Reform (Wisconsin Bar Association, September, 2010)
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Executive Compensation: Domestic Trends and International Planning (Federal Executive Institute, March 2010)
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International Employee Benefits Challenges (Wisconsin Bar Association, September, 2009)
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The Final Countdown: An Update on Code Sections 409A and 162(m) (Illinois CPA Society, August 2008)
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Equity-Based Compensation (Chicago Tax Club, February, 2008)
Accolades
Affiliations/Memberships
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Journal of Pension Benefits (Senior Editor)
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Wisconsin State Bar Association
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Milwaukee Bar Association (Former Chair, Employee Benefits Section)
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Greater Milwaukee Employee Benefits Council
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Wisconsin Retirement Plan Professionals, Ltd.
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Center for Communication, Hearing & Deafness (Board Member, 2005 – present)
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Bel Canto Chorus (Board Member, 2009 – present; President-Elect, 2012)
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Ducks Unlimited (Board Member)
Education
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J.D., cum laude, University of Wisconsin Law School
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B.A., University of Chicago |