Sally Nielsen

Sally C. Nielsen has more than 30 years of experience advising mid-size and large, private and tax-exempt entities on benefits issues related to the design, communication and administration of benefit plans and related funding vehicles. A significant part of her practice involves assisting clients on fiduciary aspects of plan administration and plan investment management.

Ms. Nielsen represents several plan investment committees, including many committees that each oversee several billion dollars of assets for defined benefit and 401(k) plans. She has expertise in negotiating complex investment management agreements, trust agreements and third party administrative services agreements. She also provides fiduciary training to plan administrators, investment committees and in-house finance and legal teams in connection with plan administration and plan investment duties. She frequently works with the client’s other professional advisors including actuaries and investment consultants in implementing management and fiduciary decisions. She has extensive experience in identifying and resolving employee benefits issues in corporate transactions as well as advising clients on executive compensation, work force reductions and human resources operations. Ms. Nielsen has represented employers in disputes with the IRS, the DOL and the PBGC, as well as with private parties.

While in law school, she served as the executive articles editor of the Emory Law Journal.

Ms. Nielsen was recognized in 2018 and the ten years immediately preceding editions of The Best Lawyers in America® for Employee Benefits Law. She was also named as the 2014 “Atlanta Lawyer of the Year” in the area of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law by The Best Lawyers in America®. Ms. Nielsen is a frequent speaker at benefits seminars, including conferences hosted by chief financial officers, benefits executives and in-house counsel. She is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell.*

*CV, BV, and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedure’s standards and policies.

Education:

• Emory University School of Law, J.D. with distinction, Order of the Coif
• Albion College, B.A. magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Admissions:

• Georgia

Court Admissions:

• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia