Sharon Goodman

Principal

Sharon Goodman has focused her practice on employee benefits law since her graduation from law school in 1988. She has extensive experience in matters relating to pension plan design, tax qualification and compliance, and complex hedge fund investments. She also advises clients in the areas of plan administration and benefit claim processing, domestic relations issues and the rights of veterans under employee benefit plans. Ms. Goodman has designed and drafted numerous employee benefit plans, including defined benefit, defined compensation, non-qualified deferred compensation and health plans. Ms. Goodman has significant experience with plan investments in alternative asset classes and the negotiation of complex investment agreements.

Ms. Goodman assists clients with matters involving the Internal Revenue Service, such as requests for determination of tax-exempt status and IRS audits, and assists clients with Department of Labor investigations and required DOL filings.

Ms. Goodman has spoken before employee benefit organizations, including the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and the National Conference of Unions and Employee Benefits Funds, and has authored articles in the employee benefits field on a broad range of topics, including the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and Medicare Part D benefits. For many years, Ms. Goodman has volunteered with pro bono organizations providing free legal services regarding pension rights.

Ms. Goodman graduated from The Johns Hopkins University and received her law degree from the Northeastern University School of Law. Ms. Goodman was a contributing author of the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law’s treatise, Employee Benefits Law, and she is a Co-Chair of the Qualified Retirement Plan subcommittee of the Employee Benefits Committee of the American Bar Association and a former Co-Chair of the Specialized Retirement Income Plans subcommittee.

She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland. She is also admitted to practice before the United States District Courts of those districts.