Judy has advised employers and employee benefit plans on all aspects of compensation and benefits including tax, regulatory, fiduciary responsibility, financing, and organizational integrity issues for more than 25 years.
Judy has unique experience as both a lawyer and an administrator with hands-on experience running large, complex employee benefit programs. In her former role as associate vice president of human resources for the entire University of California system, she was directly responsible for all human resources issues, including managing a $40 billion pension system covering 100,000 members, three large defined contribution plans, and the third largest health plan in California.
Before joining Hanson Bridgett, Judy was a partner in a national law firm where she advised clients on complex business and employee benefits issues. She also served as deputy general counsel at one of the largest telecommunications corporations in America, where she was responsible for corporate legal matters including executive compensation and employee benefits.
Judy has substantial experience in labor negotiations, mergers, divestitures and executive compensation. She has worked with legislative and regulatory agencies, with many appearances before California legislative committees. She is a national leader in the area of human resources organizational evaluation and certifications.
Representative Work
Represented client in IRS voluntary compliance filing dealing with leased employee/temporary worker issues with 401(k) plan and re-design of plan to meet business needs.
Provided advice on new investment disclosure rules, administrative fees and other emerging fiduciary issues for retirement plan sponsors and administrators.
Advised clients on numerous tax reporting and withholding issues, including representation of large client in successful resolution of employment tax audit.
Led team that prepared and filed more than 30 determination letter applications and related voluntary correction program filings with the IRS in the past year, using web-based project management to facilitate the complicated filing process.
Developed tax compliance manual and training for large retirement systems to self-evaluate tax compliance of the system operations on a cost effective basis.
Publications
"Senior Care Employers Should Start Today to Prepare for Health Care Reform," California Assisted Living Association Legal Update (February 2013)
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Presentations
"Would You “Pass” an IRS Employment Tax Exam?" co-speaker, California Society of Municipal Finance Officers (February 2013)
“New Employer ‘Pay or Play’ Rules,” co-speaker, Hanson Bridgett Health Care Reform Webinar (January 2013)
"Employment Tax Audits; Fringe Benefits; W-2 Requirements for Health Care Reporting; Pension Reform," Auditor-Controller Payroll Managers Group, California Counties (April 2012)
"Defending Public Employment in Tough Economic Times," California Transit Association, Annual Conference (November 2011)
"Update on the IRS Determination Letter Application/Voluntary Correction Program Filing Process," CALAPRS Attorney Roundtable (September 2011)
"Pension Reform: What's on the Horizon," MMANC Winter Forum (February 2011)
"Current Pension Reform Issues," CALAPRS Attorney Roundtable (January 2011)
"Tax Compliance Operational Review and Domestic Relations Orders", CALAPRS Attorney Roundtable (September 2010)
"Healthcare Reform 2010-Special Focus on Grandfathered Plan Issues," SF Chapter, Western Pension & Benefits Conference (June 2010)
"Principles of Pension Management for Trustees," Instructor for CALAPRS training for public retirement system trustees (March 2010)
"IRS Employment Tax Audits—The Do's and Don'ts," CALAPRS Attorney Roundtable (June 2009)
"Tax Determination Letter Update," CALAPRS Attorney Roundtable (June 2009)
"Tomorrow-Land: Retirement Plans in the Next Decade," San Francisco Chapter Western Pension & Benefits Spring Conference (May 2009)
"Can You Feel the Love Tonight?—New Strategies for Coping with PERS Retiree Medical Costs," Spring 2009 Conference of the Southern California County Counsels Association (February 2009)
"Updates on the IRS Determination Letter Process," CALAPRS (January 2009)
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