Andrea I. O’Brien is a Partner at IslerDare PC. Prior to joining the firm in June 2011, Andrea was a partner at Venable LLP.
Andrea regularly advises clients on a broad spectrum of employee benefits matters, including retirement plans, health and welfare plans, equity programs, and executive compensation arrangements. She designs and drafts plan documents, summary plan descriptions, legally-required notices and policies, open enrollment materials, and other employee communications that are key to the successful implementation of these benefit plans under ERISA, the Affordable Care Act, and other relevant laws. In addition, Andrea provides technical compliance assistance for benefit plans on a wide variety of matters; handles government filings, inquiries, and audits for her clients’ benefit programs; and implements remedial actions under the government’s numerous voluntary corrective action programs for plan errors. Andrea also provides support to her business clients by coordinating benefit claims disputes; assessing and negotiating the employee benefit implications of business transactions (including reductions in force, asset and stock sales, mergers and acquisitions), and negotiating vendor contracts for the support of benefit plan administration.
Andrea is a member of the Virginia, Maryland, and District of Columbia Bars. She speaks frequently to clients and other groups, providing training on a wide variety of employee benefit issues, such as fiduciary responsibility; current trends in retirement plans; redesigning health plans to meet the requirements of Federal health reform; restructuring executive compensation agreements under 409A; and HIPAA medical privacy and security compliance programs.