Katrina M. Clingerman

Indiana

Ogletree Deakins
300 N Meridian Street
Suite 2700
Indianapolis, IN 46204

Tel: 317-916-2516

Email: katrina.clingerman@ogletree.com
Web: www.ogletree.com

Professional Biography

Katrina Clingerman is a Shareholder in the Indianapolis office of Ogletree Deakins. Katrina concentrates her practice in the area of employee benefits, handling a variety of issues relating to plan design, compliance, and administration of retirement plans, health and welfare plans, and nonqualified deferred compensation plans.

Her decade of experience as in-house benefits counsel provides her with a unique perspective on the administrative aspects of implementing legal advice.  She advises clients on all aspects of Internal Revenue Code and ERISA compliance, including structuring, plan documents, administration, tax qualification and compliance, required amendments, implementing benefit changes, correction of errors, negotiating vendor contracts, and IRS filings and private letter ruling requests.  Katrina also represents clients in transactions with respect to benefit plans, advising on the termination, spin-off, and merger of benefit plans.  In addition, she advises and educates plan fiduciaries about fiduciary duties and best practices.

With respect to retirement plans, Katrina has experience working with defined benefit, defined contribution, 403(b) and 457 plans.  Her experience with health and welfare benefit plans includes ACA, COBRA, nondiscrimination rules, Section 125 cafeteria plans, and other fringe benefits, including the payroll tax implications of such benefits.  Katrina works with public and private employers, both for-profit and non-profit, as well as governmental employers.

Prior to joining Ogletree Deakins, Katrina was in private practice at Ice Miller LLP and then worked as in-house counsel at a large healthcare system.

Education

  • J.D., Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, 1999
  • B.A., DePauw University, 1993

Representative Experience

  • Served as in-house counsel for a major health system, with legal compliance responsibility for benefit plans covering over 35,000 employees
  • Advised multiple state and city public retirement systems on issues relating to structuring, administration, and tax qualification and compliance
  • Assisted with voluntary correction of plan errors, including a successful settlement with the IRS of over 20 issues for a municipal retirement system

Ogletree Deakins has one of the largest teams of employee benefits and executive compensation practitioners in the United States. As part of a firm that focuses on labor and employment law, our Employee Benefits Practice Group has a special ability to relate technical experience to the client’s “big picture” issues. Our goal is to provide practical advice that allows an employer’s benefits strategy to work in harmony with the employer’s overall personnel, financial, and business objectives.

Employers nationwide have come to depend on Ogletree Deakins for their employee benefits regulatory and compliance advice, both on a day-to-day basis and for unique projects involving corporate restructurings, acquisitions, Section 409A-compliant executive compensation arrangements, or benefits plan redesign.

What distinguishes us in this regard is that our employee benefits practice group includes seasoned litigators who also have a sound working knowledge of the complex tax and regulatory issues involved in employee benefit plan design and administration. The ERISA litigators in our practice group are an integral part of the overall benefits practice. They routinely draft plan documents and related instruments for qualified and nonqualified retirement plans, welfare plans, and fringe benefit plans; advise clients regarding the employee benefits aspects of corporate mergers, acquisitions, and restructurings; or counsel clients regarding other aspects of tax or regulatory compliance. Because our benefits litigators speak the language of employee benefits plan design and administration, they are able to communicate directly and effectively with the client’s human resources personnel, actuaries, and other professionals to quickly recognize and marshal the facts essential to the defense.

Ogletree Deakins is one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management in all types of employment-related legal matters. The firm has a reputation for legal excellence and responsive client service. Ogletree Deakins’​ labor and employment practice is complemented and supported by related practice groups in the areas of business immigration, litigation, employee benefits, occupational safety and health, and construction law.

With offices throughout the United States and in Europe, Canada, and Mexico, the firm represents a diverse range of clients. Our depth of experience in labor and employment law has produced a successful track record for our clients – Fortune 50 corporations to start-up companies.

Although the size and scope of our practice has grown over the past quarter century, our core values remain constant. We are committed to personalized attention, innovative solutions and old-fashioned hard work.

Our approach to providing clients with the resources to solve today’s business challenges is always forward-thinking and strategic. We remain committed to providing our clients with an insider’s view of the workplace issues of the day.