IRS Compliance and Governmental

Barbara Bovbjerg is the Managing Director for Education, Workforce and Income Security Issues at the U.S. Government Accountability Office. In that capacity, she oversees all GAO’s evaluative work in those subject areas, ranging from elementary and secondary education, through workforce and employment issues, to aging and retirement income policy. Previously Ms. Bovbjerg was the Director for Retirement Income Security, and in that capacity managed studies on Social Security and pension policy and management. Earlier, as Assistant Director for Budget Issues at GAO, she managed a variety of budget policy projects, including studies on the long-term effects of budget deficits. Before joining GAO, she led the citywide analysis unit of the District of Columbia’s Budget Office, and analyzed state and local government finance issues for the Urban Institute.
Ms.Bovbjerg holds a Masters Degree in Public Policy from Cornell University, and a B.A. from Oberlin College.

Carol McClarnon is Of Counsel to Giller & Calhoun, LLP. She has over 20 years of law firm experience providing employee benefits and tax compliance advice to employers and plan service providers. She has extensive experience representing clients in controversies and compliance matters before the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Labor.

Carol’s experience covers the full range of retirement plans for both public and private employers, including defined benefit and money purchase pension plans, profit-sharing and 401(k) plans, 403(a) and 403(b) annuity plans, 457(b) and 457(f) plans, non-qualified deferred compensation plans and individual retirement plans. In addition to drafting and reviewing plan documents, she has represented plan sponsors in obtaining voluntary compliance relief, prohibited transaction exemptions and private letter rulings in connection with their plans. Carol also has worked with financial services companies on sophisticated ERISA and tax issues arising in the retirement services and insurance product operations of their businesses, including the legal analysis of cutting edge annuity and retirement plan product development.

Carol graduated cum laude from Indiana University School of Law – Bloomington and was a managing editor of the Indiana Law Journal. She has been active in the American Bar Association, having served as Vice Chair of the Employee Benefits Committee of the Tort and Insurance Practice Section. Carol serves on the Board of Directors of Synergy Nonprofit, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization supporting global environmental education and cultural preservation. She is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia.

Michael Hadley is a partner in the law firm Davis & Harman LLP. He practices in the area of employee benefits, advising clients on the full range of tax, ERISA, and other laws affecting benefit plans. He has a particular focus on helping financial institutions that sell products to defined contribution and defined benefit plans, IRAs and 529 plans navigate the special rules that govern those plans. He also provides clients with strategic advice, plan design, counseling, and compliance assistance for qualified plans, 403(b) and 457 plans, non-qualified executive compensation, equity plans, employment agreements, and health and other welfare plans.

Mr. Hadley was Associate Counsel for Pension Regulation at the Investment Company Institute, the national association of U.S. investment companies. His responsibilities included advocating for the Institute’s membership before Congress, the Department of Labor, the Department of the Treasury, and the Securities Exchange Commission on retirement security issues and assisting ICI members and staff in understanding tax and ERISA rules that affect defined contribution plans, IRAs, and similar savings vehicles. Among other duties he managed ICI’s work implementing the Pension Protection Act and responding to 401(k) fee, investment advice, and fiduciary developments in Congress, DOL, and the courts.

Prior to joining ICI, Mr. Hadley was an associate with Covington & Burling LLP, where he advised clients on a broad range of employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements, provided expert advice on ERISA litigation, and assisted with pension and benefits issues in mergers, acquisitions, and other corporate transactions.

Mr. Hadley is a frequent speaker on the latest retirement savings policy developments coming out of Congress and the regulatory agencies. He co-authored The Economics of Providing 401(k) Plans: Services, Fees, and Expenses, 2010 ICI Research Perspective, Vol.17, No. 4 (June 2011) (with Sarah Holden and Shaun Lutz) and 401(k) Plans: A 25-Year Retrospective, ICI Research Perspective, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Nov. 2006) (with Sarah Holden and Peter Brady).

Mr. Hadley was a law clerk for the Honorable Gerald Tjoflat, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia, where he was Notes Editor of the Virginia Law Review and elected to the Order of the Coif. He received his B.A., cum laude, from the College of William and Mary.

PRIOR EXPERIENCE
Associate Counsel for Pension Regulation, Investment Company Institute
Associate, Covington & Burling
Law Clerk to Hon. Gerald Tjoflat, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

BAR AND COURT ADMISSIONS
District of Columbia
U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Virginia

Timothy Speiss is the Partner-in-Charge of the firm’s Personal Wealth Advisors Group and Vice President of EisnerAmper Wealth Planning LLC. He chairs the firm’s Technology Committee and Legislation Monitoring Group, and serves on the firm’s Tax Practice Policy Committee and community service group EisnerAmperCares. Tim has nearly 30 years of experience in providing comprehensive tax planning and related investment, compensation, and financial planning services to senior executives and board members of Fortune 100 publicly held companies, Forbes 400 families, and privately held businesses and owners including celebrities and owners of professional sports teams. Prior to joining EisnerAmper, he was a partner with a Big Four firm and served as Partner-in Charge of their New York Metro and Northeast Area Private Client Advisory Practice.

Tim is a frequent speaker and author on topics of tax and financial planning, executive compensation, charitable giving, and related matters. He has lectured in various university graduate programs and regularly provides commentary on tax and investment and legislative matters to television, radio, and print media. Tim is also the Editor-in-Chief of the periodical EisnerAmper LLP Personal Wealth Advisors Technical Update For Financial Advisors.

Tim was a staff assistant to a former U.S. Congressman and has attended U.S. Treasury hearings on various matters of federal taxation. He is a member of the United States Foreign Policy Association (U.S. FPA), has been cited as an Outstanding New York Businessperson by a U.S. Senate Subcommittee, and is the founder of the Timothy Speiss Endowed Fund For the Promotion of United Nations Responsible Global Business Principles at Widener University. Tim serves on the boards of, and regularly advises, numerous charitable and educational organizations and capital campaign initiatives. His involvement includes the Trustee, Finance and Development Committees of the Harlem Academy; Board Chair (Manhattan) of the Abingdon Theatre Company; Corporate Development Committee of the Alliance for Lupus Research; and Chair of the Bishop McDevitt High School President’s Advisory Board. Tim graduated from Widener University with a B.S. in Business and M.S. in Taxation.