Structuring Student Loan Repayment Benefit Programs: IRS Guidance, Applicable Rules, Key Planning Considerations

Mr. Levin practices in the M&A and Securities Group and the Employment & Employee Benefits Group. He advises on a broad range of executive compensation and employee benefits matters, including the associated tax, securities, corporate, employment and labor issues. Mr. Levin routinely advises private and public companies, in particular private equity sponsors, regarding executive compensation and employee benefits issues arising in mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, joint ventures and other transactions; represents executives and management teams in negotiating employment and incentive compensation, particularly in connection with corporate transactions; advises clients as to the design and establishment of virtually all types of executive compensation, equity, deferred compensation and other benefit arrangements; advises companies and their boards regarding governance and disclosure requirements; represents lenders and borrowers in various corporate financing transactions; and structures private equity and hedge funds and other investments in compliance with ERISA. Mr. Levin serves as chair of the Advisory Board and as a member and former chair of the Center for Transactional Law and Practice Advisory Board at the Emory University School of Law. He also serves as an adjunct professor at New York Law School and Emory University School of Law

Ms. Bernstein is special counsel in the New York office of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, where she has been advising employers and plan sponsors on ERISA, employee benefits and executive compensation for over 25 years. She served as the Chair of the IRS Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt/Government Entities and co-chair of the Employee Benefit and Compensation Committee for the New York State Bar Association. A recognized thought leader, Ms. Bernstein is a frequent speaker on employee benefits and executive compensation and has authored numerous articles of interest to employers. She is also a member of the IRS Pension Liaison Group and was named one of Employee Benefit Adviser’s Most Influential Women in Benefit Advising. Ms. Bernstein holds a J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.