Lawyers / Professionals

 
Carolyn M. Trenda       
Associate
77 West Wacker Drive
Suite 4100
Chicago, Illinois 60601-1818
T: 312.849.8130
F: 312.849.8131
ctrenda@mcguirewoods.com
 

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.


Practices & Industries
Previous Experience
  • Summer Associate, McGuireWoods LLP, Chicago, Illinois, 2001 & 2000
  • Internship, Slaughter and May, London, England, 2001

Publications
Speaking Engagements
  • 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

Professional Affiliations
  • 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
 

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

  • Phi Alpha Theta
 
 

ADMITTED

Illinois 2002

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois 2002

 

PLACE OF BIRTH

Barrington, Illinois