Amy Null

Amy A. Null has broad experience advising employers and financial industry service providers on ERISA, federal income tax law, and other rules and regulations concerning employee benefit plans. Ms. Null counsels employers with respect to structuring and compliance aspects of retirement, health and other employee benefit plans and executive compensation programs.

In addition, she works with financial services and other business clients that provide human resources and employee benefit services and products. This aspect of Ms. Null’s practice utilizes her knowledge of ERISA, the tax law, and the health and welfare regulatory regimes including HIPAA and the Affordable Care Act.

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Null was an attorney advisor for the US Department of the Treasury, Office of Tax Policy from 1998 to 2000, where she worked closely with representatives of the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor and other regulatory agencies in developing legislative proposals and regulatory guidance applicable to employee benefit plans.

During her government service, Ms. Null devoted substantial time to projects on cash balance pension plans, HIPAA and retirement plans of tax-exempt employers. Ms. Null is past chair of the American Bar Association Tax Section’s Exempt Organization and Government Plans Subcommittee and past chair of the Boston Bar Association’s ERISA Committee.

She is a frequent national speaker on recent employee benefits issues, including as a panelist in the ALI-ABA programs on pension, profit-sharing, welfare and other compensation plans.

In connection with the ABA, she has also participated in IRS agent training sessions on the audit of 403(b) plans and has been actively involved in commenting to the IRS and Treasury on regulatory guidance, including the ABA Tax Section, Employee Benefits Committee, 2012 proposals for tax simplification and reform. Ms. Null is a member of the ABA Tax Section’s Employee Benefits Committee and the Boston Bar Association.

Experience :

• Leading the Human Resources representation of Thermo Fisher Scientific in its acquisition of Alfa Aesar, a cross border stock and assets transaction including business units in the United States, UK, Germany and Asia
• Providing ERISA and employee benefits advice on the pending sale of Barclays’ Wealth and Investment Management (WIM) Americas business to Stifel Financial
• Obtaining favorable private letter rulings and numerous IRS-approved corrections on behalf of clients of a pension administrator in connection with the correction of systemic vendor error
• Working with a large employer with a significant casual workforce to create a compliance strategy for ACA reporting.

EDUCATION :

• JD, Harvard Law School, 1991
• BA, Haverford College, 1988

ADMISSIONS : Massachusetts

GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE : Department of the Treasury, Tax Policy