Overview
CHICAGO (August 14, 2017) — International law firm McDermott Will & Emery is pleased to announce that Judith Wethall and Finn Pressly have joined the Firm as partners in its Employee Benefits Practice Group. Ms. Wethall and Mr. Pressly are located in the Firm’s Chicago office. They join a forty-member strong team of US and international Employee Benefits lawyers serving our clients’ needs from the international to local levels across every sector.
“We are delighted to welcome Judith and Finn to McDermott,” said Todd Solomon, head of McDermott’s Employee Benefits Practice Group. “Both Judith and Finn bring extensive experience in the health and welfare space, particularly health care reform. With their arrival, we are excited about our continued ability to provide depth and breadth of employee benefits counsel to our clients, especially during this period of health care uncertainty.”
A well-known practitioner in her field, Ms. Wethall has been ranked by Chambers USA in Illinois, Labor & Employment: Employee Benefits & Compensation since 2014. Ms. Wethall has counseled Fortune 100 companies across the healthcare, technology, financial, manufacturing, retail, and insurance industries on a broad range of employee benefits subjects, specifically health and welfare benefits programs. She has guided insurers, employers, plan administrators, and consultants through wide ranging ERISA compliance issues and has significant experience with health care reform, Medicaid/Medicare issues, disability leave, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and security compliance, state and local compliance issues, wellness program design and compliance, consumer driven health care initiatives including HRAs and HSAs, healthcare continuation coverage (COBRA), domestic partnership coverage and executive physical programs.
Ms. Wethall has appeared before both federal and state departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) on matters concerning HIPAA privacy/security violations. She has also appeared before the Department of Labor (DOL) on matters relating to health and welfare plan audits, as well as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on matters pertaining to Medicare retiree subsidies. In addition, Ms. Wethall has extensive experience with payroll audits and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Mr. Pressly has comprehensive experience counseling clients on all aspects of health and welfare benefit plans, including issues related to plan design, summary plan descriptions, health care reform, ERISA fiduciary compliance, HIPAA privacy and security, COBRA administration, subrogation and claims reimbursement issues, domestic partner benefits, wellness programs and consumer driven health care initiatives, including health savings accounts. He has represented self-funded plans in DOL investigation and IRS audits. Additionally, Mr. Pressly assists clients with the medical coverage mandates required under Hawaii state law and San Francisco local ordinances. He is a frequent speaker on compliance and administration issues affecting employer-sponsored benefit plans, including fiduciary obligations under ERISA and strategies for reducing medical plan expenses.
Ms. Wethall received her JD from Stetson University School of Law and her BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Mr. Pressly received his LLM in Taxation from the University of Florida, his JD from Notre Dame Law School and his BA from the University of Notre Dame.
About McDermott Will & Emery
McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.
