Lowell J. Walters focuses his practice on employee benefits and has extensive experience advising employers on retirement plans, health and welfare benefits, executive compensation, and related tax and regulatory matters. He counsels private companies, nonprofit organizations, hospitals, universities, and governmental entities on the design, administration, and compliance of employee benefit programs.

Lowell advises clients on matters arising under the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA, including fiduciary responsibilities, plan compliance, benefit plan design, and regulatory requirements. He also assists employers with employee benefit issues involving COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA, USERRA, the ADA, the ADEA, and the Public Health Service Act.

His practice includes complex benefit matters such as plan audits, government investigations, mergers and acquisitions, plan terminations, benefit reductions, and executive compensation arrangements. Lowell takes a practical, solutions-oriented approach to helping clients manage risk while maintaining effective employee benefit programs.

Representative Experience

• Defended an employer from an IRS assessment of about $140,000 for allegedly failing to fulfill its Affordable Care Act obligations. The IRS agreed to reduce the penalties to $0.
• Protected an employer from entering into an unfairly one-sided services agreement by identifying services the retirement plan service provider verbally agreed to perform, but failed to document in the contract process. Rewrote proposed contract provisions that would have allowed the service provider to avoid compensating the employer and the plan if it performed its services incorrectly.
• Persuaded a surgical group that wanted to correct its plan because it was misworded that it would be in its best financial and other interests to simply amend the plan going forward, thus avoiding the cost of preparing a correction.
• Assisted a hospital spinoff in negotiating a purchase price offset to address the cost of vesting employees who were being terminated.
• Strengthened the case of a class action client sued for improper COBRA notices by reviewing the notice and preparing legal arguments on the issue of how it complied and why any deficiencies were immaterial. The complaint was dismissed days after filing a motion to dismiss.
• Reduced potential liabilities during a legal review of a client health plan document from a major insurance company by identifying discrepancies under mental health parity requirements, advised on how to correct those discrepancies, and eliminated risks of having to provide additional mental health benefits.
• Provided advice to multiple clients on transgender issues, including: whether coverage of transgender surgeries is mandatory when a patient suffers from gender dysmorphia; whether someone waives the ability to get treatments normally reserved for a particular sex when they indicate they are a different gender on their insurance forms; and what the obligations of a claims administrator are when handling transgender claims for companies that might be subject to inconsistent requirements.

Retirement Plan Experience

• 401(a) plans (money purchase pension plans, profit-sharing plans, traditional and cash balance defined benefit plans)
• 401(k) plans (including safe harbor, cross-tested, and automatic enrollment plans)
• 403(b) plans (ERISA and non-ERISA)
• 457(b) plans (governmental and tax-exempt)
• 457(f) plans
• 409A nonqualified plans
• 175/185 insurance premium tax share plans
• Florida Retirement System opt-out plans
• Deferred Retirement Option Programs

Welfare Plan Experience

• 125 Cafeteria plans
• ERISA-only plans
• Wrap documents
• Non-ERISA individual or voluntary plans
• Medical reimbursement plans (HRAs, FSAs, HSAs)
• Self-insured medical plans
• Commercially insured medical plans
• Stop-loss insurance
• Various other welfare plan arrangements (including wellness programs, dependent care assistance programs, adoption assistance programs, vacation pay conversion programs, and education assistance programs)
• Governmental retiree health care

Practice Areas

• Single Employer Benefits & Pension

Admissions

• State of Florida

Education

• University of Miami School of Law LL.M. (Taxation)
• Brooklyn Law School J.D.
• Rutgers University B.A.

Professional & Community Involvement

• National Association of Public Pension Attorneys (2011–2012)
• New Tax Professionals Association of Tampa Bay (2005–2008)
• • Co-Chair (2006)
• College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, Florida Chapter (2019–2023)
• Florida Municipal Attorneys Association (2011–2015)
• Florida Public Pension Trustees Association (2004–2015)
• Florida West Coast Benefits Council (2002-present)
• • President (2007–2008)
• West Central Florida Healthcare Human Resources Association (2019–2021)
• Society for Human Resource Management (2019–2021)
• The Florida Bar
• • Tax Section
  • Labor and Employment Law Section (2006–2015)
  • City, County, and Local Government Law Section (2006–2015)
• Hillsborough County Bar Association
• Hillsborough Education Foundation (School Endowment Committee, 2009–2012)
• Hillsborough County Consumer Protection Board (2004–2007)
• • Chairman (2007)
• Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce (2002–2004)
• Leadership Tampa Bay (2005)
• Tampa Bay Pension Council (2002-2023)
• Tampa Connection Alumni Association (2003–2004)
• Tampa Connection (2002–2003)

News

• Reid and Riege Welcomes Lowell J. Walters as Of Counsel to Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Practice