Caleb Barron provides advice on a broad range of employee benefits and executive compensation matters for privately and publicly held companies, churches, universities and governmental entities. He prepares governing documents for retirement, deferred compensation and welfare plans, including 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, 457 plans, defined benefit plans, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), bonus plans, incentive plans, medical plans, cafeteria plans and wrap plans. Caleb advises clients in the preparation and delivery of participant communications and disclosures required under ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, the Affordable Care Act, and various provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, and has helped guide them through the many compliance issues that arise under the Affordable Care Act. He counsels employers seeking to provide alternative forms of compensation and benefits to key employees and executives, and helps them navigate complex compliance and drafting issues arising under Code Section 409A.
Caleb advises employers regarding benefits issues for major mergers and acquisitions and on state law issues that impact the administration of employee benefit plans, including those that regulate employee leasing arrangements and multiple employer welfare arrangements. Caleb regularly assists plan administrators in meeting their fiduciary and administrative responsibilities and provides advice in regard to benefit claims, litigation, prohibited transactions, and regulatory filings with the IRS and DOL. Caleb helps employers prepare for and navigate through benefit plan audits and penalty assessments by the IRS and DOL, including for failures to file Forms 5500 and for failures to offer health coverage in compliance with the Affordable Care Act. He also represents clients in preparing filings for determination letters with the IRS and correcting plan operational and qualification issues under the IRS employee plans compliance resolution system.
Caleb received his law degree (summa cum laude) from the University of Tennessee College of Law. While in law school, Caleb was recognized as a distinguished student attorney for his representation of not-for-profit and student-founded businesses in the business law clinic and served as a judicial intern to Justice Gary Wade of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Following law school, Caleb also served as a judicial clerk to Chief Judge J. Daniel Breen in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee and as assistant general counsel for the Tennessee Department of Revenue.
