Ann M. Kim

Ann M. Kim is Head of the Employee Benefits Practice. Ms. Kim advises employers on a broad range of ERISA and employee benefits-related matters. Her clients include international companies, publicly traded companies, closely held companies, employee-owned companies and tax-exempt employers.

Ms. Kim focuses on qualified retirement plans (e.g., 401(k), ESOPs, profit-sharing plans, cash balance plans and defined benefit plans) and executive compensation. A significant portion of her practice consists of advising clients on Code Section 409A compliance and finding practical compliance solutions. She also has significant experience with other aspects of executive compensation, including nonqualified deferred compensation, Code Sections 457(b) and 457(f), equity compensation, split-dollar life insurance, and constructive receipt of income. 

Ms. Kim advises her publicly traded clients on Code Section 162(m) and benefits-related securities disclosures and compliance. She assists employers in becoming employee-owned through the adoption of an ESOP, counsels ESOP trustees on their fiduciary duties, helps employers establish and maintain committees for proper governance of benefit plans, and provides fiduciary training to benefit plan fiduciaries. Ms. Kim also has experience with complex health and welfare plan issues, as well as responding to day-to-day questions that arise. She has worked extensively with the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor on correction programs for retirement plans. Such work includes drafting submissions, negotiating settlements and speaking with governmental officials about their respective programs.

Ms. Kim’s publications and speaking engagements include:

• “Administrative Issues When Using an ESOP in Mergers and Acquisitions,” The ASPPA Journal (Fall 2011)
• “Special Considerations in Designing and Operating an ESOP,” Benefit Practitioners’ Strategy Guide, BNA Benefits Practice Resource Center (July 29, 2011)
• “Management of Employee Benefit Plans as a Part of Corporate Governance,” Employee Benefit Plan Review (May 2008)
• “Reaching an Optimal Level of Employee Ownership in a Profit Sharing/401(k) Plan,” The National Center for Employee Ownership – Section 401(k) Plans and Employee Ownership, Fifth Edition (2008) 
• Panelist: Next Proxy Disclosure Cycle, “Getting Back to Compensation Strategy,” (October 18, 2007)
• “Funding Waivers: A Short-Term Funding Solution for Troubled Plan Sponsors,” International Pension Lawyer (September 2003) 
• “The Era of Corporate Governance,” Employee Benefit Plan Review (November 2002) 
• “Sarbanes-Oxley: New Blackout Period Requirements,” ABA Trust & Investments (November/December 2002)

Ms. Kim is a Certified Public Accountant. Prior to becoming an attorney she worked for eight years at national public accounting firms and a publicly held company. Her accounting practice focused on taxation and securities.

Ms. Kim earned her Bachelor of Science, with honors, from Northern Illinois University and her Juris Doctor, with high honors, from the Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2001, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif. She is admitted to practice in Illinois and before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Ms. Kim is a member of The ESOP Association and the American Bar Association.