Primary Areas of Practice: Employee Benefits (e.g., Retirement, Cafeteria and Health Plans)

Cindy Van Bogaert provides legal advice regarding the design, implementation and administration of all types of employee benefits plans. She has assisted clients in all aspects of plans, including plan and forms drafting, compliance, ERISA and fiduciary issues, plan investment issues, default investments, automatic enrollment, nondiscrimination testing and safe harbors, Form 5500, determination letter filings, QDROs, HIPAA privacy, COBRA, mergers, acquisitions, financings, terminations, litigation, and a wide range of IRS and DOL filings, audits, voluntary compliance programs and other actions.

Cindy is experienced with ESOPs, 401(k), profit sharing and defined benefit plans, including prototype arrangements. She advises on cafeteria and health plans, including health reimbursement arrangements, health savings accounts, health risk assessments, wellness plans, VEBAs and MEWAs. She works with executive compensation arrangements such as nonqualified deferred compensation plans and split dollar insurance.

• Member of the American Bar Association, State Bar of Wisconsin, Dane County Bar Association, Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB), American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries, Society for Human Resource Management, International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and the Legal Association for Women
• Faculty member for the American Law Institute-American Bar Association
• Faculty member for the Employee Benefits Institute of America
• Co-author of 401(k) Plans published by Employee Benefits Institute of America
• Author of the 401(k) column on BenefitsLink, a national employee benefits Web site
• Served on the State of Wisconsin Employee Trust Funds Board (1998-2006) ($62.7 billion (12/31/2001))
• Past National President of the Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB); also Past President of the Madison Chapter of WEB
• Speaker and instructor on benefits issues for IOMA (Institute of Management and Administration), Midwest Claim Conference, University of Wisconsin School of Business Small Business Development Center, State Bar of Wisconsin, Worldwide Employee Benefits Network and other groups
• Previously served as corporate counsel in employee benefits for Inland Steel Industries in Chicago; was corporate counsel for the Administrative Management Group, a Chicago-area third-party plan administrator
• Graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School
• Earned a B.S. with distinction in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Phi Beta Kappa
• Has studied in the MBA program at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business