Kenneth R. Hoffman

Partner
Hoffman_Kenneth

Ken Hoffman counsels clients in the public and private sectors on all aspects of employee benefits and executive compensation. Ken focuses on executive compensation, governmental retirement plans, multiemployer plans, and collective bargaining of employee benefits. He counsels clients on qualified and non-qualified retirement plans (including government and tax-exempt organizations) and tax-sheltered annuities. He has helped employers negotiate withdrawals from multiemployer pension plans, and has negotiated plan mergers and transfers.  He has also constructed stock option programs and other forms of equity compensation, as part of executive agreements.

Ken negotiates compensation and benefits for represented employees and advises on single-employer and multiemployer plans, fiduciary matters associated with retirement plans, worker classification issues, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and benefits issues that arise from acquisitions and mergers. His advocacy for employment clients also extends to representing them before Congress on legislative changes in single-employer and multiemployer retirement plans.

Experience

Government Experience

    Insights

    Credentials
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    Education

    • J.D. Order of the Coif University of Maryland School of Law 1977
    • B.S. Frostburg State College 1974

    Bar Admissions

    • District of Columbia
    • Maryland

    Professional Memberships and Activities

    • Member, American Bar Association
    • Member, Maryland State Bar Association; former chair, Taxation Section
    • Member, District of Columbia Bar Association
    • Served on Tax Advisory Committee to Senator Benjamin Cardin
    • Served on the Comptroller's Task Force to study the impact of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 on the state of Maryland
    • Adjunct professor, graduate tax program, University of Baltimore
    • Has lectured widely on pension and other retirement benefit-related issues before the American Benefits Council, the Maryland State Bar Association Employee Benefits Committee, and other organizations
     

    Recognition
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    • The Best Lawyers in America, 2006 – 2024
      • Lawyer of the Year, Employee Benefits, Baltimore, 2011
    • Legal 500
      • Labor and Employment – Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Design, 2013 – 2014, 2016 – 2020
      • Employee Health and Retirement Plans, 2017
    • Super Lawyers
      • Washington, DC, 2013 – 2016
      • Employee Benefits/ERISA, Baltimore, Washington, DC, 2013
      • Maryland, 2008 – 2016
    • Chambers USA
      • Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation (Band 1), Maryland, 2012 – 2021
      • Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation (Band 2), Maryland, 2010 – 2011
      • Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation (Band 2), Nationwide, 2006
    • Martindale-Hubbell, AV® Peer Review Rated

    Community
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    Pro Bono

    • Past president, Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland

    Volunteerism

    • Former chair and member, board of directors, CollegeBound Foundation, Inc.
    • Former secretary/treasurer and trustee, National Aquarium in Baltimore Foundation, Inc., 1983 - 2007
    • Former director, National Aquarium Institute