Barry L. Klein joins Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani as the Chair of the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice and as a partner in the firm’s Philadelphia office. He is a member of the firm’s Employment and ERISA practice groups. Klein was previously a partner in the Philadelphia office of Chamberlain Hrdlicka.
“We are extremely pleased to have Barry join Gordon & Rees,” said William Shelley, office managing partner of the firm’s Philadelphia office. “Barry has a depth of experience advising employers on the potential opportunities and the limitations of their employee benefits and compensation arrangements. As social policy and labor market conditions constantly change and thus impact the priorities of those who enforce the law, Barry will be a strong asset in meeting the legal needs of our clients both locally and nationally.”
For 30 years, beginning with the Tax Reform Act of 1986 through the current round of 401(k) plan excessive fee litigation, Klein has advised employers on employee benefits and compensation arrangements. He has significant practical experience with every aspect of the design, maintenance and compliance of employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements.
Klein advises employers, including sole proprietors, partnerships, multinational companies, major hospital centers and universities with respect to the benefits and compensation they offer employees. He advises financial service firms, brokers, investment advisors and health care providers with respect to employee benefit related products.
Klein has significant experience advising financial services clients with respect to their obligations under ERISA. He counsels these clients on the fiduciary responsibility that arises when they manage ERISA plan assets, as well as opportunities for avoiding ERISA coverage. He has helped clients set up funds that comply with ERISA’s venture capital operating company and real estate operating company exemptions, and has helped clients set up hedge funds that are subject to or exempt from ERISA.
Klein’s career has provided him with a unique perspective on employee benefits and the employee benefits industry. He began his career at the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C. and he was in-house employee benefits counsel at the Prudential Insurance Company of America and then at The Vanguard Group, Inc. Prudential and Vanguard are among the nation’s largest managers of retirement plan assets. Klein advised these companies with respect to the full range of services and products that they provide to employee benefit plans and was instrumental in the design and marketing of new products.
Klein is recognized by Chambers USA (2016-2017) as a leader in employee benefits and compensation law, stating that he is noted for his “deep experience in ERISA law” and is praised for his “ability to grasp issues quickly and approach things from a very practical business perspective.” Chambers has also noted that he is “esteemed for his ‘strong business sense and level-headed approach” and calls him an “’extremely knowledgeable’ employee benefits attorney, especially in the area of executive compensation.”
Klein is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania. He is a member of the American, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations. Klein received his law degree from Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
In addition to his law practice, Klein is an adjunct professor of law in the Graduate Tax Program at Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law, where he designed and teaches courses on the taxation of executive compensation and the fiduciary responsibility and investment management aspects of employee benefit plans. He was an adjunct professor at the Philadelphia Institute for Paralegal Training. He serves on the Board of Directors and is Immediate Past President of Ohev Shalom of Bucks County in Richboro, Pennsylvania.
Gordon & Rees is a national litigation and business transactions firm with more than 800 lawyers in 46 offices across the United States. Our lawyers provide full service representation to public and private companies ranging from the Fortune 500 to start-ups. Founded in 1974, Gordon & Rees is recognized among the fastest growing and largest law firms in the country and continues to climb the ranks of both The Am Law 200 and The National Law Journal. Additionally, in 2017 Law360 ranked the firm among the top 50 largest U.S. firms and The American Lawyer ranked the firm among the top 35 on its Diversity Scorecard.
Source: www.gordonrees.com
