THE MCDOUGAL LAW FIRM - Key Persons
Anna provides support to our clients and attorneys as a paralegal in high-stakes litigation matters. She is
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Fellow of the American College
Craig's practice is focused on helping clients comply with the laws governing retirement, health care and executive compensation, including related fiduciary responsibilities. He has regularly represented clients in litigation matters involving ERISA, fiduciary requirements, retirement plans and related investments, executive compensation and severance in state and federal courts throughout the nation. He has successfully provided representation for dozens of governmental investigations, audits and enforcement actions, including those initiated Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and state regulators.
Previously a partner with a national Am Law 100 law firm, Craig has significant experience representing clients ranging from executives to some of the largest employers in North Carolina and throughout the United States related to retirement, healthcare and fiduciary compliance, the correction of compliance concerns and the resolution of governmental investigations and litigation. Craig is one of four attorneys in North Carolina peer selected as a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel for his contributions to the field of employee benefits. He also has served as an ERISA expert.
For many employers, the structure and operation of competitive and compliant compensation arrangements, including retirement and health care plans, has become increasingly challenging. New laws are being adopted, regulatory interpretations of some existing laws have changed, and the enforcement efforts of the IRS and other regulators are better funded and promoted. The growth of the gig economy presents significant challenges for the ability of certain employers to comply with retirement and health care laws. Craig has the experience to help employers successfully navigate the current regulatory environment having provided benefits representation for hundreds of retirement and health care plans. Drawing on this experience, he strives to make benefit laws understandable so that clients ranging from large national and international companies to closely held companies, tax-exempt and governmental entities can remain competitive and compliant.
Craig's representative experience includes:
Litigation related to ERISA, retirement and health care, financial products and investments, fiduciary responsibilities, contingent workers and employment classification.
Governmental investigations, audits and compliance matters relating to executive compensation, retirement and welfare plans, fiduciary responsibilities, worker status and taxation and financial products.
Establishing and operating compliant retirement and welfare plans, deferred compensation, equity plans and the resolution of related compliance concerns.
Representation of executives on change in control, retention and severance.
Advising fiduciaries, including officers and directors, as to the process and procedure for satisfying their responsibilities and minimizing related risks.
Conversions of traditional pension plans to cash balance, defined benefit plan de-risking strategies, fiduciary strategies and governmental investigations.
Transactional representation addressing retirement and welfare plans, executive compensation and fiduciary responsibilities related to a change in control or IPO.
Establishing and operating compliant health care plans and related compliance obligations of the Affordable Care Act, ERISA and tax laws, including reporting and disclosure obligations.
Employment tax audits and investigations, including strategies related to worker status as independent contractor or employee.
Executive compensation and retirement strategies for partnerships, limited liability companies and sole-proprietorships.
ESOP transactions and fiduciary compliance, including leveraged ESOP strategies and other methods of transitioning ownership of closely held entities on a tax favored basis.
Liability protection strategies for employers, executives and directors, including indemnification and insurance.
Craig is a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel. Selection as a Fellow is determined by peers and requires twenty years of employee benefit experience and having made significant contributions to the field of employee benefits. He is one of four Fellows in North Carolina and the only one in the Triangle.
Craig provides representation for executives and employers with respect to retention, severance and change of control involving senior executives, including adversarial matters and litigation. He successfully represented senior executives in litigation related to the change in control provisions for the merger of two publicly traded financial institutions. He provided representation involving a separation from employment for the CEO of a publicly traded entity with a German home office and represented one of the largest integrated healthcare entities in North Carolina in negotiations involving the transition of its CEO and the disposition of large reverse split dollar polies. He provided representation for a UK publicly traded entity concerning US litigation relating to the senior executive of a South American subsidy.
Craig has provided representation to a substantial number of large integrated healthcare systems as well as provider practices of all sizes. This representation has included the development of a cost-effective compliance strategy for minimizing the risks related to a complex organizational structure that may include tax-exempt entities, governmental entities and taxable entities.
Craig has provided representation for numerous defined benefit plans for clients ranging from large publicly traded entities and integrated healthcare systems to unions and physician practices. He represented a national service provider in the successful resolution of Internal Revenue Code compliance issues in the conversion of cash balance plans for its clients. He successfully provided representation is a class action involving the actuarial assumptions for a defined benefit plan sponsored by a large utility. For numerous corporate transactions he has advised buyers and sellers as to effectively determine and address the material costs and liabilities related to defined benefit plans maintained by the target entity.
Gregg is a trial lawyer who has a national practice with 30 years of experience representing
clients in complex business litigation and catastrophic personal injury matters. He represents
Gregg has served as lead counsel in numerous high-profile, nationally-recognized cases,
Gregg is the only North Carolina attorney profiled in Law360's inaugural "trial pros" series, which
Will focuses his practice on insurance coverage, complex business litigation, and appeals. Prior to
Will served as the executive editor of the North Carolina Journal of International Law and earned a spot