Because many types of employee benefits involve the use of insurance policies, Sarah has significant experience evaluating and advising clients with respect to health insurance products, the use of life insurance as a funding mechanism for deferred compensation and business succession planning and the advantages and disadvantages of self-insuring certain benefits.

Sarah advises clients across all industries including both for-profit and nonprofit organizations with respect to compliance with complex employee benefits regulations and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). She works closely with clients to design benefits plans that maintain compliance with federal law and assists employers involved with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) or Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits or reviews.

She counsels companies on the design and documentation of executive compensation arrangements including severance agreements as a business transition planning tool. She has substantial experience evaluating and advising with respect to various types of methods used to fund certain benefits, including, but not limited to self-insurance, split-dollar life insurance, key man life insurance and other forms of insurance-based products. Sarah also advises clients on employee benefits issues that arise in merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions. She also conducts reviews of various employment-related documents such as employee handbooks, employment agreements and non-compete agreements.

Prior to joining Pierson Ferdinand, Sarah worked as an executive compensation, employee benefits and ERISA attorney with various law firms including Stevens & Lee, P.C., Fox Rothschild LLP, McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC, and FisherBroyles, LLP. Most recently, she was a Shareholder and Chair of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation with Saxton & Stump.