Mr. Sollee, a partner in Ivins, Phillips & Barker's employee benefits practice, has broad experience advising clients on benefits matters under the tax code and ERISA. He has particular expertise in the areas of qualified and nonqualified retirement and deferred compensation plans, executive compensation, VEBAs, the treatment of pension plans in chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, and the tax treatment of benefit programs generally. Mr. Sollee has counseled many of the largest corporations in the world regarding compliance with qualified plan standards, including those applicable to traditional defined benefit, cash balance, and 401(k) plans, and has conducted "mock audits" on pension plans with aggregate assets exceeding $250 billion. He is an expert on the intricacies of sections 409A and 83 and the application of constructive receipt and related principles to complex compensation and benefit structures.
Mr. Sollee's 20-plus years as a benefits attorney include stints as Legislation Counsel to the U.S. Joint Committee on Taxation, Tax Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, and tax partner in the National Office of a Big 4 accounting firm. His varied experience in Washington makes him an effective advocate for clients before Congress, the IRS, Treasury Department, PBGC, and other government agencies. Mr. Sollee represented the corporation that received the largest pension plan funding waivers ever granted (PLRs 200730026, 200730027), has helped clients secure IRS private letter rulings on complex qualified plan issues of first impression (e.g., PLRs 200734022, 200237026), and has successfully negotiated scores of other favorable government rulings. He frequently assists clients during the comment period following the issuance of proposed regulations, helping ensure that final regulations do not have unintended consequences on the client's benefit structure.
Clients have benefited significantly from Mr. Sollee's creativity and problem-solving ability over the years. Mr. Sollee's benefit designs have been successfully adopted by Fortune 50 and other major corporations. He has devised inovative new approaches to more efficiently finance and secure nonqualified deferred compensation plans and to optimize benefit-related tax deductions. Mr. Sollee's ingenuity once even "saved" the New York State hospital financing system from collapse (if you believe the Times).
Mr. Sollee earned his A.B. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University, where he was admitted with sophomore standing, and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was awarded the Richard Katcher Senior Tax Prize. He is admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia and Maryland.
Mr. Sollee is listed in Best Lawyers in America (Woodward White) in the specialty of Employee Benefits Law.
