Joseph K. Urwitz

Joseph (Joe) K. Urwitz focuses his practice on employee benefits, executive compensation and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciary matters. He advises clients on a wide range of issues, including fiduciary duties and prohibited transactions, employee benefit matters arising in mergers and acquisitions, benefits issues unique to nonprofit entities, deferred compensation arrangements, equity award and bonus plan design, employment and severance arrangements, and qualified plan work. Read Joe Urwitz's full bio.

Firm/Organization: McDermott Will & Emery

Blogs: Corporate Deal Source, Employee Benefits Blog, Tax Controversy 360

Latest Articles

Employee Benefits Blog

Georgetown University Defeats Retirement Plan Fee Litigation and “If a Cat Were a Dog, It Would Bark”

By J. Christian Nemeth, Joseph K. Urwitz, Erin Steele & McDermott Will & Emery on January 29, 2019

Recently, the US District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit brought by former Georgetown employees under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) over fees and investments in its two retirement plans. Plaintiffs alleged that Georgetown breached its fiduciary duty of prudence under ERISA by selecting and retaining investment options with excessive administrative fees and expenses charged to the plans, and unnecessarily retained three recordkeepers rather than…

Employee Benefits Blog

Top Takeaways for Tax-Exempts from IRS Guidance on Executive Compensation

By Ralph E. DeJong, Andrew Liazos, Robert C. Louthian, III, Erika Mayshar & Joseph K. Urwitz on January 10, 2019

One of the more controversial and complex provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has been the 21 percent excise tax on certain nonprofit executive compensation. On December 31, 2018, the IRS issued interim guidance that addresses how this tax will apply in various situations that commonly arise for tax-exempt employers. Establishing internal systems to comply with this guidance will be challenging. Access the full article.…

Employee Benefits Blog

Free Parking Only Exists in Monopoly: New IRS Guidance Makes Employer-Provided Parking More Costly and Burdensome Than You Think

By Samantha Souza, David Fuller, Ralph E. DeJong, Robert C. Louthian, III, Erika Mayshar, Erin Steele & Joseph K. Urwitz on December 20, 2018

As part of its comprehensive 2017 tax reform bill, Congress repealed deductions for Qualified Transportation Fringes including for employer-provided parking, while also requiring that tax-exempt organizations increase their unrelated business taxable income by the nondeductible parking expenses. Recently released IRS Notice 2018-99 addresses some of the year-end tax filing and tax planning concerns for affected employers with rules of special interest to tax-exempt employers. Access the full article.…

Employee Benefits Blog

IRS Provides 403(b) Plan Relief for Improper Exclusion of Part-Time Employees

By Joseph K. Urwitz & McDermott Will & Emery on December 18, 2018

The IRS recently released Notice 2018-95 to provide transition relief to 403(b) plan sponsors that improperly excluded part-time employees from making elective deferrals under their plans. Employers must begin to operate the part-time employee exclusion under their 403(b) plans correctly for the plan year immediately following the transition relief period, which will mean as soon as January 1, 2019 for many 403(b) plan sponsors. In addition, going forward, many employers will need to amend their…

Employee Benefits Blog

The Top Hat-Exemption After Sikora

By J. Christian Nemeth, Joseph K. Urwitz & Elizabeth M. Rowe on November 29, 2018

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) has long been a source of complex and often-expensive litigation for employers. However, as the number of actions brought by employees under ERISA have surged, employer-defendants have often relied on the so-called top-hat exemption to dismiss certain claims involving executives. Now, several federal courts of appeals have addressed the disputed contention that the presence of employee bargaining power is required for a plan to fall under…

Employee Benefits Blog

Employers with Massachusetts Employees Must File Health Insurance Responsibility Disclosure Form by November 30

By Joseph K. Urwitz & Judith Wethall on November 20, 2018

Any employer who has six or more employees in Massachusetts in any calendar month after November 2017 is required to complete a Health Insurance Responsibility Disclosure (HIRD) form by November 30, 2018. The HIRD form is used by MassHealth to collect information about employer-sponsored insurance offerings. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue recently published a set of FAQs stating that the HIRD form: Is filed by an employer through the employer’s MassTaxConnect web portal (the employer…

Employee Benefits Blog

IRS Corrections Go Digital in 2019

By Maggie McTigue , Lisa Loesel & Joseph K. Urwitz on October 23, 2018

Late last month, the IRS released the latest version of its Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, the IRS’s program for correcting retirement plan errors. The newest version of the correction program—effective beginning in 2019—includes mostly minor changes and clarifications. Most importantly, however, it requires electronic filing of Voluntary Correction Program submissions beginning April 1, 2019. Access the full article.…

Tax Controversy 360

IRS Issues Long-Awaited Initial Guidance under Section 162(m)

By Andrew Liazos, Maureen O'Brien, William R. Pomierski & Joseph K. Urwitz on August 27, 2018

On August 21, 2018, the IRS issued guidance regarding recent statutory changes made to Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code. Overall, Notice 2018-68 strictly interprets the Section 162(m) grandfathering rule under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Public companies and other issuers subject to these deduction limitations will want to closely consider this guidance in connection with filing upcoming periodic reports with securities regulators. Further action to support existing tax positions or adjustments to…

Employee Benefits Blog

IRS Issues Long-Awaited Initial Guidance under Section 162(m)

By Andrew Liazos, Maureen O'Brien, William R. Pomierski & Joseph K. Urwitz on August 23, 2018

Employee Benefits Blog

Brown University Only Partially Successful in 403(b) Lawsuit

By J. Christian Nemeth, Joseph K. Urwitz & McDermott Will & Emery on July 24, 2018

A federal judge in Rhode Island recently permitted several claims against Brown University to proceed in a lawsuit alleging that the university and its fiduciaries breached their fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), by mismanaging Brown’s defined contribution plans. This decision follows the recent decision in a similar class action lawsuit against Northwestern University (see blog post here) in which a federal judge granted Northwestern a…

Joseph K. Urwitz

Georgetown University Defeats Retirement Plan Fee Litigation and “If a Cat Were a Dog, It Would Bark”

Top Takeaways for Tax-Exempts from IRS Guidance on Executive Compensation

Free Parking Only Exists in Monopoly: New IRS Guidance Makes Employer-Provided Parking More Costly and Burdensome Than You Think

IRS Provides 403(b) Plan Relief for Improper Exclusion of Part-Time Employees

The Top Hat-Exemption After Sikora

Employers with Massachusetts Employees Must File Health Insurance Responsibility Disclosure Form by November 30

IRS Corrections Go Digital in 2019

IRS Issues Long-Awaited Initial Guidance under Section 162(m)

IRS Issues Long-Awaited Initial Guidance under Section 162(m)

Brown University Only Partially Successful in 403(b) Lawsuit

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