January 18, 2008

Dear Employee Benefits Practitioner:

Every year, the Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (JCEB), an organization of the American Bar Association (ABA) coordinating the efforts of the employee benefits committees of six Sections of the ABA, meets with various federal agencies in Washington, DC immediately before the May meeting of the Tax Section.  Questions from the members of the employee benefits committees of the six sections participating in the JCEB will be discussed at the agency meetings.

This year the JCEB will be meeting with the IRS, DOL, SEC, PBGC, EEOC, HHS and CMS.  This is your opportunity to ask technical questions of the staffs of the various agencies.  The results of these meetings will be summarized in a written report which will be published on the JCEB website www.abanet.org/jceb/.

In order to provide the agencies with sufficient notice to answer the questions, the questions must be submitted to designated individuals by March 5, 2008.  Each question to the IRS and DOL must contain your proposed answer and an analysis demonstrating why you think the answer is correct.  Questions for the IRS and DOL which do not contain an analysis and proposed answer will not be submitted.  Including the proposed answer and analysis is also recommended for the other agencies.  For all agencies, questions previously submitted should not be resubmitted this year unless there has been an intervening event and no questions should be submitted that involve pending controversies before the agency or a controversy in litigation. For all agencies, please include a reference and citation to any case decision or on-going litigation that involves the question that has been posed.

Please address your questions and proposed answers to the following individuals:

IRS - Anne Meyer
Snell and Wilmer
One Arizona Center
Phoenix, AZ 85004
ameyer@swlaw.com

DOL - Chantel Sheaks
Buck Consultants
1114 G Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003
chantelsheaks@yahoo.com

SEC - Gloria W. Nusbacher
Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
One Battery Park Plaza
New York, NY 10004
nusbache@hugheshubbard.com

PBGC - Robert A. Miller
Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP
Suite 1400
800 Superior Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44114
rmiller@calfee.com

and

Harold J. Ashner
Keightley & Ashner LLP
700 12th Street, NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20005
haroldashner@keightleyashner.com

EEOC - Thomas R. Standley
Marathon Oil Company
539 South Main Street, Rm 814-M
Findlay, OH 45840
trstandley@marathonoil.com

HHS - Kaye L. Pestaina
Vice President, National Health Compliance
SEGAL
1920 N Street, NW, 4th Floor
Washington, DC 20036
kpestaina@segalco.com

CMS - Mark Stember
Kilpatrick Stockton
Suite 900
607 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005-2018
MStember@KilpatrickStockton.com

The Agency Q & As have always been one of our most popular ABA activities.  The success of this endeavor is directly dependent upon the number and quality of the questions which you provide.  Thus, your questions are extremely important to the success of these meetings.  The JCEB thanks you, in advance, for your active participation in this event.

Very truly yours,

Joni L. Andrioff
Chair, JCEB