Christina Porras
Senior Associate
Christina Porras is a senior associate in the Tax Strategy & Benefits Practice, based in the Washington DC office. Christina’s practice focuses on advising a broad range of clients, including corporations, tax-exempt entities, benefit fund plan offices and collectively bargained multiemployer plans, on compliance and transactions related to health and welfare, qualified retirement plan, ERISA litigation, and day-to-day ERISA and tax compliance matters.
Christina advises on all aspects of employee benefits law, including tax qualification, plan design, reporting and disclosure obligations, negotiating contracts and agreements, funding, administrative compliance, eligibility and coverage issues, and claims and appeals issues. Christina regularly advises on plan sponsor and client ERISA fiduciary obligations ranging from retirement plan investments to maintaining Department of Labor (DOL) cybersecurity best practices and mitigating costs in retirement and welfare plan design. Christina also advises on executive compensation and transactional issues.
Prior to joining the firm, Christina worked for a boutique ERISA firm and worked in-house for a set of multiemployer pension and health and benefit plans. She also litigated cases brought under ERISA.
- Provides counsel for plan sponsors relating to day-to-day retirement and health and welfare administration and compliance issues under ERISA, as well as the Internal Revenue Code, the Pension Protection Act, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and related laws and regulations.
- Advises on fiduciary obligations and duties under Title I of ERISA.
- Advises clients on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and DOL compliance programs and correction procedures.
- Provides counsel to clients through IRS, DOL and PBGC audits.
- Coordinates with third-party administrators, plan service providers and/or plan fund offices on general administration issues.
- Advises on tax qualification and tax-exempt entity status, as well as tax filings such as Form 5500, Form 990 and excise tax penalty avoidance.
- Advises and assists clients with benefit appeals, including finalizing compliant administrative records, presentations to boards and plan committees, and communications with participants and service providers.
- Drafts, amends and advises on plan governing documents, such as plan documents, summary plan descriptions and summary of material modifications.
- Advises clients on benefit plan policies to ensure compliance with DOL and IRS best practices, such as record retention policies, cybersecurity policies and questionnaires, and fiduciary insurance policies and coverages.
- Drafts agreements and advises on executive compensation matters.
- Provides counsel to clients through and negotiates plan mergers and advises on benefit issues related to mergers and acquisitions.
- Advises clients on health and welfare plans on design, implementation and compliance under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, the No Surprises Act, the ACA and related law and guidance.
- Reviews plans and advises on compliance and reporting and disclosure requirements for maintaining mental health parity, such as plan document compliance and NQTL disclosure reports.
- Negotiates agreements with pharmacy benefit managers, medical and dental and vision management providers, third-party administrators, benefit consultants and other benefit plan service providers.
- Advises clients on unique coverage and design issues such as gene therapy, maternal care, infertility benefits, weight loss management and specialty prescription drugs.
- Advises clients on annual notices such as Summary of Benefits and Coverage documents, Summary Annual Reports, Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act notices and Children’s Health Insurance Program notices.
- Advises clients on and negotiates insurance policies, such as stop loss policies.
- Counsels defined benefit and defined contribution plan sponsors on design, implementation and compliance under the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0.
- Advises clients on private equity and other investments, including fiduciary considerations, and negotiates agreements and subscription documents for the same.
- Negotiates agreements with investment managers, investment consultants, record-keepers and other benefit plan service providers.
- Drafts and advises on plan policies such as Investment Policy Statements, QDRO policies and procedures, missing participant policies, unclaimed benefits policies, suspension of benefits policies and overpayment policies.
- Advises on various administrative options such as electronic disclosure safe harbor opportunities, and electronic notary and witnessing options.
- Provides counsel to clients on multiemployer pension plan withdrawal liability and assists clients in developing strategies to mitigate such withdrawal liability impact.
- Advises on freezing or terminating defined benefit plans.
- Advises on variable annuity defined benefit plans.
- Counsels defined contribution plan sponsors on mitigating fees and associated risks, and coordinates with investment consultants to negotiate reduced record-keeping fees with record-keepers.
- Provides counsel to clients on benchmarking, investment share class changes, diversity of portfolio offerings and investments, and brokerage windows.
- Advises on annual and specific notices, including Annual Funding Notices, Summary Annual Reports, Qualified Default Investment Alternative Notices, rollover notices, automatic enrollment notices, suspension of benefits notices, electronic disclosure notices and funding notices.
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, LL.M., Taxation and Certificate in Employee Benefits, 2015
- Columbus School of Law, J.D., Catholic University, 2014
Admissions
- District of Columbia, 2017
- Virginia, 2014
Courts
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
- U.S. Dist. Ct., E. Dist. of Virginia
- Nell Hennessy Employee Benefit Scholar