Harry I. Atlas

Partner
Atlas Harry

Harry Atlas is a business attorney who helps companies and nonprofit organizations with complex employee benefit and executive compensation issues. Harry’s practice includes the implementation, operation and termination of retirement plans, including qualified plans, 403(b) plans, and 457 plans.  His clients seek his practical, effective counsel regarding nonqualified retirement plans, equity compensation arrangements, and golden parachute issues. He helps with Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) matters involving merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions, and with Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) negotiations in the context of potential or actual bankruptcy situations. Harry also has significant experience with the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Experience

Representative Matters

  • Represented EMZ portfolio company FotoFinder Systems, Inc., a Germany-based global leader in skin imaging solutions, in connection with its acquisition of DermLite LLC, a U.S.-based handheld dermoscopy device company
  • Represents and assists a financial services company with a range of executive compensation matters in connection with an IPO
  • Advises several companies’ plan sponsors and benefit plan committees on fiduciary obligations for 401(k), 403(b), and other plans
  • Represents several for-profit and nonprofit plan sponsors in Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Labor (DOL), and PBGC audits
  • Advises several financial services companies on the use of proprietary investment funds in their 401(k) plans
  • Represents and assists a major mining company with a range of employee benefit matters in connection with the company’s emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings
  • Represents many nonprofit educational institutions and trade associations in negotiating chief executive employment and deferred compensation agreements, and assists in drafting those agreements
  • Advises and represents several companies’ plan sponsors on self-correction and on IRS Voluntary Correction Program, DOL Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program, and DOL Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program applications
  • Represents and assists several companies’ plan sponsors of all types with M&A matters, including pre-closing due diligence, representations and covenants, and post-closing benefit plan integration

Insights

Credentials
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Education

  • J.D. with honors University of Maryland School of Law 1997
    • Order of the Coif
  • Ner Israel Rabbinical College 1994

Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • Maryland

Professional Memberships and Activities

  • Member, American Bar Association (ABA)
  • Member, Retirement Income Task Force of the American Benefits Council
  • Member, Maryland State Bar Association Study Group for Employee Benefits

Recognition
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  • Chambers USA
    • Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation (Band 1), Maryland, 2017 – 2024
    • Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation (Band 2), Maryland, 2010 – 2016
  • Legal 500, Labor and Employment – Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Design, 2012, 2014, 2016 – 2021
  • The Best Lawyers in America, 2024 – 2025