Lawyers / Professionals
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Carolyn M. Trenda
Associate
77 West Wacker Drive
ctrenda@mcguirewoods.comSuite 4100 Chicago, Illinois 60601-1818 F: 312.849.8131 |
Ms. Trenda regularly advises public, private and non-profit employers on a range of employee benefits topics. She designs and assists clients with the ongoing administration of tax-qualified retirement plans including defined benefit pension plans, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, 457 deferred compensation plans, profit sharing plans and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). She routinely helps clients with health and welfare plan matters including plan design and COBRA and HIPAA related questions. She also works with employers to establish and maintain non-qualified, stock option and fringe benefit plans.
Specifically, she has assisted clients with restructuring retiree medical programs, merging and terminating employee benefit plans, evaluating executive compensation arrangements and negotiating vendor agreements and trust agreements. She often advises employers on employee benefits matters during mergers and acquisitions, including issues related to the compensation and benefits of transferred and terminated employees. She routinely obtains rulings and determinations from the IRS, the U.S. Department of Labor and other government agencies and guides clients through agency audits and the use of government sponsored compliance and correction programs.
Ms. Trenda also counsels employers and employee benefit plan committees on ERISA fiduciary obligations. She frequently publishes articles and speaks on a variety of employee benefits subjects.
- Summer Associate, McGuireWoods LLP, Chicago, Illinois, 2001 & 2000
- Internship, Slaughter and May, London, England, 2001
- "McGuireWoods Healthcare Reform Guide: Installment No. 19 - Departments Extend Grace Period for Compliance with New Claims Process Rules," Co-authored with Robert Gordon Chambers and James McElligott Jr., McGuireWoods News, March 31, 2011
- "McGuireWoods Healthcare Reform Guide: Installment No. 13 - Government Agencies Provide Notice on Nondiscrimination Rules and Clarify Previous Guidance," Co-authored with Robert Gordon Chambers and Jeffrey R. Capwell, McGuireWoods News, September 28, 2010
- "Fiduciaries Held Liable for Selecting Retail Mutual Funds," Co-authored with James P. McElligott, Jr., Adrienne Walker Porter and Robert Gordon Chambers, McGuireWoods News, August 25, 2010
- "Group Health Plan Alert: Interim Final Regulations Establish Parity Standards for Mental Health and Addiction Treatment," Co-authored with Larry R. Goldstein, McGuireWoods News, February 12, 2010
- "Plan Fees: Fiduciaries Must Focus on Float," Co-authored with Robert Gordon Chambers, McGuireWoods News, September 11, 2009
- "IRS Provides Guidance Regarding COBRA Subsidy Reporting Requirements," Co-authored with Taylor Wedge French, McGuireWoods News, March 27, 2009
- "Follow-Up on COBRA Subsidy: What To Do Now?" Co-authored with Sally Doubet King and Robert Gordon Chambers, McGuireWoods News, March 23, 2009
- "New FSA Withdrawal Feature for Eligible Reservists: Amending Cafeteria Plans Following the HEART Act," Co-authored with Robert Gordon Chambers, McGuireWoods News, November 6, 2008
- "Focus on the Fiduciary - Investment Decisions in Light of New Legislative Safe Harbours and Developing Litigation," Co-authored with Richard L. Menson, International Pension Lawyer, September 2008, Number 63
- "Taking Corrective Measures: Steps plan sponsors can take to keep their defined contribution plans in compliance with the IRS," Co-authored with Richard L. Menson, Defined Contribution Insights, March/April 2008
- "IRS Lists Eleven Major Mistakes for 401(k) Plans," Co-authored with Richard L. Menson, McGuireWoods News, January 28, 2008
- "End of Year Tax Act Expands Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)," Co-authored with Henry deVos Lawrie, Jr. and Sally Doubet King, McGuireWoods News, February 27, 2007
- "Federal Court Finds Maryland's 'Walmart Law' Preempted by ERISA," Co-authored with James P. McElligott, Larry R. Goldstein and David F. Dabbs, Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America Executive Report Online, August 9, 2006
- "Qualified Plan Treatment of Post-Severance Compensation," Co-authored with Henry deVos Lawrie, Jr., McGuireWoods News, September 22, 2005
- "Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program Has Been Expanded and Simplified," Co-authored with Jeffrey R. Capwell, Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America Executive Report Online, April 27, 2005
- "Department of Labor Issues Guidance on Fiduciary Duties and the Mutual Fund Crisis," Co-authored with Richard L. Menson, Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America Executive Report Online, March 9, 2004
- Panelist, "Employees on the Move: Providing Pensions for Internationally Mobile Employees" and "Healthcare Benefits," International Pension and Employee Benefit Lawyers Association Annual International Conference, Berlin, Germany, May 22-25, 2011
- "Labor and Employment Issues Including 409A," Co-presenter with Peter A. Milianti, Business & Legal Issues in Dialysis and Nephrology Symposium, May 2010
- Moderator, "Facing Defined Benefit Plan Challenges: Issues with Poorly Funded Plans," International Pension and Employee Benefit Lawyers Association, December 2009
- "Navigating ERISA's Fiduciary Responsibilities After Enron," McGuireWoods LLP Employee Benefits Law Conference, 2004
- American Bar Association
- Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America
- International Pension and Employee Benefit Lawyers Association, Membership Committee, 2009 - Present
- Junior Board Member, Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Chicago
- Legal Assistance Advisory Committee Member, 2008 - Present
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EDUCATION University of Notre Dame Law School, Notre Dame, Indiana, J.D., 2002 University of Notre Dame Law School Concannon Program of International Law, London, England, 2000-2001 University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, B.A., History, Government and International Studies, cum laude, 1999
ADMITTED Illinois 2002 U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois 2002 PLACE OF BIRTH Barrington, Illinois |

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