Michelle Khalife
Special Counsel
Michelle Khalife focuses her practice on representing and defending employers, insurers, employee benefits plan providers, and third-party administrators in workers’ compensation, employment, and employee benefits-related matters. Michelle has extensive experience with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and in employee benefits compliance matters involving contribution, defined benefit, and health and welfare plans. In addition to representing clients in complex litigation, Michelle frequently conducts presentations and training on ERISA, Affordable Care Act (ACA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA), Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), and plan administration.
Before entering private practice, Michelle spent over a decade in various roles at the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits and Security Administration (EBSA), including serving as a senior benefits advisor and senior investigator. She draws on experience conducting multiple civil and criminal investigations of large and varied employee benefit plans; ensuring health, welfare, and retirement plans are compliant with ERISA, HIPAA, COBRA, ACA and other labor- and employment-related laws; and educating participants, plan trustees, plan administrators, union representatives, and state and federal agencies on ERISA and other federal labor laws.
Related Areas
Experience Highlights
Michelle draws on over a decade of experience in matters related to ERISA and other federal and state employment and labor laws related to employee benefits and plan administration—including working with Taft-Hartley plans, Employee Stock Ownership Plans, trust departments, and other financial entities holding plan assets and/or providing investment advice to ERISA clients. Michelle’s services include:
- Providing assistance, information, and advice on ERISA interpretations and requirements, and explanations of EBSA policies and procedures to employers, plan administrators, and fiduciaries
- Ensuring health, welfare, and retirement plans are compliant with ERISA, HIPAA, COBRA, ACA and other labor and employment related laws
- Conducting fact-finding and research to develop clear and concise responses to regulatory and other government inquiries and ascertain fiduciary compliance with federal labor laws
- Reviewing, analyzing, and identifying issues with plan documents, reports, administrative operations, and other documents relating to benefit plans as defined under ERISA
- Providing written reports to employers and plans including findings and recommendations for corrective action
- Educating clients regarding ERISA, ACA, HIPAA, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), Federal Mine Safety and Health Act FMSHA), Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), and other labor laws
In over a decade with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, Michelle also worked closely with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor, the U.S. Department of Justice, and local prosecution offices in matters related to the investigation and civil and criminal prosecution of ERISA violations.
Honors & Awards
- U.S. Department of Labor Employee of the Year Award, 2011 and 2013
- U.S. Department of Labor Public Service Award, 2011
- U.S. Department of Labor Recovery and Reinvestment Act Award, 2010
Admissions
- New York
Education
- St. John’s School of Law, J.D., 2008
- Villanova University, B.A., 2005
Recent Insights
November 18, 2019