Eric Paley Partner epaley@nixonpeabody.com 585-263-1012 Fax: 866-451-0665 Rochester, NY Download vCard

Practice Areas

Labor & Employment
Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB)
Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation

Experience

Eric Paley is a member of the Firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation team within the Labor and Employment Practice Group. Eric focuses his practice on the law and regulations governing retirement plans (e.g., pension, profit-sharing, 401(k), and 403(b) plan compliance), welfare plans (e.g., group health plan, group insurance plan, cafeteria plan, HIPAA, and COBRA compliance), nonqualified deferred compensation plans and equity compensation plans. A significant portion of Eric’s practice also involves counseling retirement and welfare plan committees on their fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA.

Eric has represented publicly-traded and privately-held manufacturing and consumer retailers in a variety of benefits matters. He also represents not-for-profit clients such as large multi-hospital health systems, colleges and universities, and nationally and internationally recognized arts organizations and museums.

For several years, he also served as the deputy general counsel of Medeva Pharmaceuticals in Rochester, New York.

Mr. Paley has been recognized as a “Super Lawyer” in Employee Benefits / ERISA law by New York Super Lawyers magazine in 2008 and 2009.

Presentations

• Speaker, “Fiduciary Responsibility in the New Age of § 403(b) Plans,” Webinar, June 15, 2009.
• Speaker, “COBRA Changes Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” Webinar, February 26, 2009.
• Speaker, “Controlling Health Care Costs,” Lorman Education Services, Providence, Rhode Island, September 25, 2008.
• Speaker, 403(b) Retirement Plan Summit, Pension & Investments Magazine, New York City, New York, April 8, 2008.
• Speaker, “The Law of Wellness,” Northern California Human Resources Association, Oakland, California, September 18, 2007.
• Speaker and Panelist, “Funding Vehicles and Cost-Containment Strategies,” 5th Annual Great Lakes Public Finance Conference, Chicago, Illinois, November 15, 2006.
• Speaker, “Legal Issues Arising in the Modification and Termination of OPEB of Public Employees,” 2006 National Summit on GASB 43 & GASB 45, Arlington, Virginia, September 22, 2006.

Publications

• Co-author, "Stage Set for Supreme Court to Consider ERISA Preemption of San Francisco 'Pay or Play' Law as Ninth Cuircuit Denies Rehearing En Banc," Bender's Labor & Employment Bulletin, April 2009.
• Author, “EACA Withdrawals,” Journal of Pension Benefits, Spring, 2008.
• Co-author, “Health Care Reform In The Workplace: Everything Old Is New Again,” HR West Magazine, December, 2007.
• Author, “Taxation of Roth Distributions,” Journal of Pension Benefits, Summer, 2007.
• Author, “Nonspousal IRAs,” Journal of Pension Benefits, Spring, 2007.

Admissions

Mr. Paley is admitted to practice in New York and before the United States Tax Court.

Education

Syracuse University College of Law, J.D., magna cum laude
Cornell University, B.A.

Affiliations

Eric is a member, Monroe County Bar Association and American Bar Association (Section of Taxation, Employee Benefits Committee).