Sharon Kowal Freilich

Sharon Kowal Freilich chairs the Employee Benefits Section of Pullman & Comley’s Labor, Employment Law & Employee Benefits Department. With more than 25 years of experience, she counsels businesses, professionals, municipalities and individuals on a wide range of retirement, employee benefits and executive compensation matters.

Sharon advises clients on all aspects of designing, drafting, implementing and administering tax-qualified retirement plans, cafeteria and fringe benefit plans, and nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements. Her practice also includes advising plan sponsors on the design and operation of group health plans.

Sharon counsels plan sponsors and trustees on their ERISA fiduciary responsibilities, represents clients in government audits of their employee benefit plans, and guides clients through transition issues arising from changes in plan vendors or business structures.

Earlier in her career, Sharon regularly advised multiemployer plans subject to the Taft-Hartley Act and practiced corporate law, securities and mergers and acquisitions, advising public and private companies on M&A activity, capital raises and restructurings. That background gives her practical insight into the benefits and compensation issues that arise in corporate transactions.

A frequent speaker and educator, Sharon has lectured regularly at the University of Connecticut Income Tax School and has taught courses on deferred compensation at the University of Hartford and on law and medicine at Augusta University (formerly Augusta College).

Office

Community Involvement

Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford - Director

Beth David Synagogue - Director

Greater Hartford Coalition for a World of Difference - Former Connecticut State Chair

Hebrew High School of New England - Former Director

Jewish Family Services of Greater Hartford - Former Director

Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford - Former Director

Paul and Bess Sigel Hebrew Academy of Greater Hartford - Former Director

• Assisted Connecticut municipalities in adding Deferred Retirement Option Plans (DROP) to their pension plans to help retain police officers, firefighters and other public safety employees.
• Guided plan sponsors through initial implementation of the SECURE 2.0 Act’s mandatory Roth catch-up contribution requirement for employees earning over $150,000.
• Advised private and public sector employers on the tax treatment of dependent care assistance programs (DCAPs) and dependent care reimbursements offered to employees.
• Advised buyers and sellers on employee benefits and executive compensation issues in mergers and acquisitions, including due diligence, plan terminations and mergers, and transaction document provisions.
• Advised clients on structuring nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements under Internal Revenue Code Sections 409A and 457(b), including executive deferral plans for private employers and 457(b) plans for governmental and tax-exempt employers.
• Assisted clients draft reasonable cause statements as to why a Form 5500 was filed late in response to a U.S. Department of Labor Notice of Intent to Assess a Penalty.

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