Gretchen Harders

New York

Cohen & Buckmann, P.C.
100 Park Avenue - 16th Floor,
New York, NY 10017
United States

Tel: 212-489-9618

Email: gretchen@cohenbuckmann.com
Web: www.cohenbuckmann.com

Professional Biography

Gretchen is known as the lawyer that other lawyers ask for advice on employee benefits, pensions and executive compensation. Gretchen represents a varied list of clients, including financial service companies, entertainment industry clients, and tax-exempt organizations, and also actively represents individual executives in executive compensation matters. She also advises multinational employers on designing and implementing equity-based compensation packages to incentivize top-level executive.

Some of her focus areas include:

  • Executive Counselling, Contracts and Negotiations
  • Fund Carried Interests and Profits Interests
  • Law Firm Partner Benefits and Retirement Planning
  • Qualified and Non-Qualified Retirement Plans
  • Tax Exempt Organizations: Executive Compensation & Retirement Plans
  • Health and Welfare Plans
  • M&A Transactions – Employee Benefits Advice

Gretchen is a frequent speaker on various employee benefits issues and developments. She authors articles on timely ERISA and employee benefits law topics.

Cohen & Buckmann’s Employee Benefits & ERISA lawyers are known for their advice and counsel on all types of qualified retirement plans, including pension plans, 401(k) plans and ESOPs, as well as Section 403(b) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). We understand the critical role employee benefits play in attracting talent and driving performance. Cohen & Buckmann attorneys are experienced at understanding the key goals and incentives that are important and helping to achieve them by analyzing the governance implications and legal and financial risks associated with the various benefit plans and structures.

Cohen & Buckmann attorneys draft and review tax qualified and supplemental retirement plans, and help employers keep qualified pensions affordable, navigate regulatory issues, and harmonize benefits after mergers and acquisitions. Led by Carol Buckmann, who started practicing in employee benefits law in the late 1970s, just a few years after ERISA was passed, Cohen & Buckmann’s Employee Benefits & ERISA practice regularly advises on compliance with legal requirements and the latest law changes, including the SECURE and CARES Acts, and advising on fiduciary responsibility, how to avoid prohibited transactions and navigating government audits. Through our Fiduciary Audit Service, we provide a privileged process review/independent assessment of a retirement plan’s procedural and operational compliance practices. This allows a best line of defense through robust governance practices.

Awarded the legal industries highest honors, our attorneys are often called upon by law firms of all sizes, from global multinational firms to boutique M&A firms, to serve as their employee benefits and ERISA department, helping their clients establish and maintain their employee benefits plans and ensure they comply with the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, and other applicable laws that impact employee benefits. We integrate seamlessly and confidentially into their clients’ transactions or matters including those involving pension disputes, stock option and equity-plan design and decision-making, and profit-sharing plans.

Cohen & Buckmann PC is a boutique New York-based law firm that practices in the areas of:

  • Executive Compensation Law
  • Employee Benefits Law
  • Employment Law
  • Investment Advisory Law / Corporate Law and Private Investments
  • Law Firm Advisory
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Equity and Incentive Plans
  • M&A and Business Transactions
  • Fiduciary Advice and Governance

We handle some of the most complex areas of law related to executive compensation, employee benefits, which includes ERISA, health and welfare plans, 401(k) plans and other qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, mergers & acquisitions, cross-border employment matters. We also advise investment advisers on regulatory matters, as well as their fiduciary duties to their clients, including pension plan clients. Our lawyers have been recognized for their achievements by Legal 500, Chambers USA, Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who in America and Martindale-Hubbell. The firm has been recognized by U.S. News and Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” in the area of Employee Benefits (ERISA).

“Cohen & Buckmann, P.C. is a highly respected boutique known predominantly for its expertise advising individual and teams of executives on all aspects of their employment and compensation arrangements, with specialist expertise in related tax issues. The firm frequently advises corporate clients including plan sponsors and fiduciaries on employee benefits issues including ERISA. Capabilities include advising on cross-border matters.”
Chambers & Partners