HOLIFIELD & JANICH - Key Persons
Al Holifield is the founding member of Holifield & Janich, PLLC (H&J). Al focuses his practice in the areas of employee benefits law, employee benefits litigation, health care compliance, employment law, employment litigation and business law. He represents local and national companies from various industries including, but not limited to, hospitals, insurance companies, restaurants, doctors' offices, government contractors, and construction companies.
Al represents employers regarding employee benefit litigation and compliance issues. He assists clients in Department of Labor investigations and Internal Revenue Service audits. Regarding litigation, Al has handled benefit claims litigation, retirement medical claims, health and welfare issues as well as fee and related litigation. Al has represented employers in various Title VII litigation claims. He has served as an expert witness in certain employee benefit matters, and his litigation practice includes matters before state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
Regarding compliance issues, Al represents clients routinely regarding the drafting, structuring, amending and terminating of retirement plans, welfare plans, and nonqualified plans as well as counseling them with regard to fiduciary responsibilities, the complexity of class action lawsuits, FLSA, FMLA and ADA compliance, and Affordable Care Act requirements. He provides day-to-day advice to clients regarding best practices for their plans and other compliance issues.
Dan Janich is Of Counsel with the firm's Chicago office. For more than 25 years he has concentrated his practice in ERISA covered employee benefits, executive and equity compensation and employment law counseling and litigation.
Clients hire Dan because he is a problem solver, frequently exceeding their expectations in addressing their legal issues in all aspects of employment, employee benefits and executive compensation law.
Dan's clients range from multinational companies to startups in various industries including manufacturing, consumer products, high technology, professional and financial services and real estate and their boards and C-level executives. Dan's not-for-profit clients include health care providers, higher education institutions and foundations and their C-level executives.
Kelly Endelman was originally associated with the firm from 2006-2009. After serving as in-house counsel for a Knoxville-based employee benefits consulting firm for several years, she returned to the firm in 2017 to resume her practice in the areas of employment and employee benefits law and litigation.
As for her employment practice, in addition to advising clients on day to day employment issues, Kelly has experience in assisting employers in defending allegations of age discrimination, racial discrimination, disability discrimination, sexual harassment, FMLA violations and retaliation, as well as claims for unemployment and other benefits. Her practice also involves assisting employers in the review and writing of personnel policies, procedures and employee handbooks, as well as advising on state and federal regulatory compliance.
As for employee benefits, her work includes drafting plan documents and communications, reviewing and negotiating contracts and benefit plans and policies, providing guidance to benefit plan committees, boards of directors and trustees, as well as advising companies, fiduciaries and plan providers in resolving ERISA and Internal Revenue Code compliance issues raised in connection with investigations or audits by the DOL or IRS. In addition, she assists employers to understand their obligations under such legislation as the ACA and HIPAA and has extensive experience with Multiple Employer Welfare Association ("MEWA") health plans.
Sarah Johnson is an Associate at Holifield & Janich, PLLC (H&J) focusing her practice in the areas of business law, corporate law, transactional law, real estate law, construction law, employment law and litigation, employee benefits law and litigation, estate planning, elder law and estate administration. She represents corporate and small business clients regarding many employment litigation matters, including Title VII claims, the Tennessee Human Rights Act, sexual harassment and wrongful termination claims, federal and state employment discrimination claims, breach of employment contracts and non-compete covenants. Sarah also counsels employers on "best practices" including compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Tennessee Human Rights Act, and the Tennessee Disability Act.
Sarah represents business entities and business owners in a multitude of general to complex commercial transactions. Sarah regularly assists businesses with new entity organization, asset and stock purchases and real estate transactions as well as employment and tax issues. Sarah has a great deal of experience with all types of business structures, including preparation of shareholder agreements, buy-sell agreements, partnership agreements, stock purchase agreements, stock option plans, preparation of meeting minutes for directors and shareholders, and drafting of corporate resolutions. Sarah also counsels board members and business owners on the requirements of corporate governance and the fiduciary duties associated with oversight obligations. Sarah correspondingly works with clients to draft, negotiate, and modify the contracts needed to protect her clients and govern various business relationships including sales, agent, and marketing agreements, franchise and license agreements, commercial leases, trademarks, leases, security agreements, promissory notes, as well as distributor, wholesaler, vendor, and supplier agreements.
Sarah assists clients as either buyer or seller in transactions involving stock purchases or asset acquisitions including the structuring and negotiation of the transactions, performance of due diligence, preparation of other ancillary agreements and documents, and closing the sale. The vast experience of the attorneys of H&J allows Sarah to provide each client with a diverse team possessing the knowledge such complex deals require, including state and federal corporate law, tax, ERISA, healthcare law, securities law, and labor and employment law.
Tina Haley is an Associate at Holifield & Janich, PLLC (H&J), focusing her practice in the areas of employee benefits law, employee benefits litigation, and benefit plan administration/compliance. Tina represents a wide variety of clients in the public and private sector, including small closely-held businesses, publicly traded companies, churches and not-for-profit entities. She regularly assists clients in establishing and maintaining employee retirement and welfare benefit plans, including 401(k) plans, profit sharing plans, defined benefit pension plans, group health plans, flexible spending account plans and cafeteria plans. Tina regularly advises clients regarding compliance with state and federal statutes and regulations relating to employee benefits and employment practices, including the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, HIPAA, COBRA, the Family Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
Tina assists clients with day-to-day plan administration issues, including benefit claims, distributions and participant inquiries. She consults with clients regarding required and discretionary plan amendments, periodic plan restatements and plan terminations. Tina also conducts internal benefit plan audits and represents clients regarding IRS and DOL benefit plan audits.