Roger is a partner in the Benefits Service Line, concentrating his practice on Employee Retirement and Income Security Act (ERISA) and employee benefits, including qualified retirement and health plans. He has worked extensively with a wide range of clients across multiple construction industry disciplines, as well as the hotel industry. Roger is well versed in the intricacies of the multiemployer benefits, routinely working with boards of trustees of collectively bargained plans.
He represents numerous boards of retirement, health and welfare, and apprenticeship funds in interactions with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) related to audits and investigations, as well as the correction of operational errors. Roger’s practice also includes:
- Working with many single-employer health and welfare plans and human resource departments on consumer driven-health care plans, cafeteria plans, health reimbursement accounts, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- Designing, drafting, and operationalizing defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans
- Life and disability insurance plans
- Pharmacy benefit programs
Outside of his law practice, Roger enjoys spending time with his wife and two adult children and getting out on his boat in the summer. He has long coached youth hockey, is a fan of all things Minnesota hockey, and is an avid golfer. Roger also is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of gripping murder mystery and psychological thriller novels, starting with The St. Paul Conspiracy in 2006. He has two ongoing mystery series and publishes at least one new novel each year.
Education
J.D., cum laude, William Mitchell College of Law, 1994
B.S., Minnesota State University Mankato, 1989
Representative Matters
- Guided Affordable Care Act compliance for numerous multiemployer health and welfare plans and their plan administrators
- Advised health and welfare plans, both single and multiemployer, through the entirety of the HIPAA privacy and security compliance process, including plan language, policy and procedures, and the business associate contracting process
- During multiple review cycles, restated all practice group defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans, and submitted them for renewed IRS determination letters of their tax-qualified status
- Worked with painting, drywall, wall covering, and other finishing trades groups to design, merge, and establish a defined contribution plan housing both participant and trustee directed investments
- Assisted and guided an apprenticeship fund to expand its offerings to include an associate degree program, in addition to training in several disciplines of the trade.