Kenneth C. Weafer

Kenneth C. Weafer is an Associate in the Albany, New York, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He concentrates his practice on all aspects of employee benefits, which includes retirement pension and profit-sharing plans, health and welfare plans, and ERISA fiduciary counseling.

Mr. Weafer assists in the design, drafting, and implementation of defined benefit, defined contribution, and cash balance plans, 403(b) and 457(b) plans, ESOPs, and executive compensation arrangements. He also counsels clients with plan conversions, spin-offs, terminations, and other benefits issues involved in mergers, acquisitions, and other corporate restructurings.

Mr. Weafer counsels corporate clients of various sizes and in various industries on a broad range of benefit matters, including the compliance and administration of both qualified and nonqualified plans under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. He advises clients on fiduciary compliance matters relating to plan corrections, prohibited transaction exemptions, and reporting and disclosure obligations. He assists plan sponsors and administrators with investigations, examinations, and audits before the Internal Revenue Service and the United States Department of Labor, correcting qualified plan defects and filing EPCRS and fiduciary correction program submissions, private letter rulings, and determination letter applications. He represents clients before the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) in connection with reportable events filings and distress terminations. He also provides counsel to clients with welfare plan issues involving group health plans, cafeteria plans, flexible spending accounts, health reimbursement arrangements, and health savings accounts. He also assists in the representation of employers in ERISA litigation.

Prior to joining the firm, from 2008 to 2013, Mr. Weafer was a prosecutor in the Albany County District Attorney's Office. He also was the attorney-coach for Albany Law School's criminal appellate team which competes annually in Seton Hall University Law School’s John J. Gibbons National Criminal Procedure Appellate Moot Court Competition (2012-2014) and the attorney-coach for his high school alma mater's Mock Trial team (2009-2014).

While attending law school, Mr. Weafer served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Joseph C. Teresi, Supreme Court Justice, Third Judicial District, Albany County, New York. He also was a student intern at Albany Law School's Government Law Center and the Health Law Clinic.

Pro Bono and Community Involvement

•The Albany Academies, Alumni Board Member

Published Works

•“Arbitration of ERISA Claims: Yes You Can!,” Bloomberg BNA Pension & Benefits Daily (July 7, 2015) [Co-Authored with ReneI E. Thorne]
•ERISA Litigation, 5th and 4th eds. (Bloomberg BNA 2014) [Contributing Co-Author]
•“Supreme Court Decisions May Bolster Class-Action Defense Theories for Employment Cases and Other Claims,” Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Journal (May 2013) [Co-Author]

Kenneth C. Weafer In the News

Brian Goldstein, Daniel O'Neil and Kenneth Weafer Author Everything You Wanted to Know About BICE but Were Afraid Were Afraid to Ask

August 11, 2017 • Benefits Quarterly

Kenneth C. Weafer Blog Posts

Benefits Law Advisor

Last Day of Remedial Amendment Period for 403(b) Plans is March 31, 2020

March 6, 2017
Employment Class and Collective Actions

Class Arbitration of ERISA Claims: Yes You Can!

August 6, 2015
Benefits Law Advisor

IRS Prohibits Future Annuity-to-Lump Sum Conversions for Defined Benefit Plan Retirees Currently Receiving Benefits

July 27, 2015