Brian M. Pinheiro

Brian leads Ballard Spahr’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group and serves as the firm’s Managing Partner for Finance and Operations. He has also served as Chair of its Business and Transactions Department. His practice covers employee benefit plans and executive compensation for for-profit, tax-exempt, church, and government employers.

Brian advises on tax-qualified retirement plans, including cash balance pension plans, as well as 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans and health and welfare benefits. His work focuses on the statutory and regulatory requirements governing these arrangements, including ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, HIPAA, COBRA, and the ADEA. He counsels retirement plan investment committees on ERISA fiduciary issues and advises employers on plan compliance and corrections.

In executive compensation, Brian advises boards of directors and compensation committees on the design and operation of compensation arrangements, including issues under Section 409A and the Section 280G golden parachute rules. He has also advised clients extensively on strategies and compliance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and on health plan compliance with HIPAA privacy and security regulations.

Brian has represented employers before the IRS, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. He has assisted employers seeking approval through government-sponsored voluntary correction programs, including the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System and the Department of Labor’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program. Before joining Ballard Spahr in 1997, Brian spent two years as a Tax Law Specialist in the Employee Plans Division of the IRS National Office. There, he reviewed retirement plans for qualification under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code and worked extensively in the IRS Voluntary Compliance Resolution program to help employers correct operational failures in tax-qualified plans.

• The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law (J.D. 1995, magna cum laude)
  Production Editor, Catholic University Law Review
• Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M. 1997, with distinction; Certificate in Employee Benefits)
• Boston College (B.A. 1992)

• The Legal 500 US, Labor and Employment - Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation, and Retirement Plans - Design, 2019-2026; "Leading Partner"
• Chambers USA, Labor and Employment: Employee Benefits and Compensation Law (Pennsylvania), 2006-2026
• The Best Lawyers in America, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, 2010-2027, "Lawyer of the Year," Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law (Philadelphia), 2020, 2024, and 2026
• Named to Philadelphia Business Journal’s 2010 "40 Under 40" list, recognizing professional excellence and outstanding community involvement
• Recipient, the Brennan Award, on behalf of the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program (VIP) in recognition of time and effort working on behalf of equal justice for all people
• Recipient, The Legal Intelligencer and Pennsylvania Law Weekly's 2007 "Lawyers on the Fast Track" award, given to select young Pennsylvania lawyers whose achievements have distinguished them among their peers

• American Bar Association
• District of Columbia Bar Association
• Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law, Adjunct Professor, courses on employee benefits policy and tax-qualified retirement plans

• Frequent lecturer on employee benefits issues and at firm-sponsored seminars for clients as well as seminars sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Lorman Educational Services, and the Public Employer Labor Relations Advisory Service
• Presenter, "GPBCH Employer’s Forum - Q&A with the Experts: A COVID-19 Update," Ballard Spahr webinar, April 16, 2020
• Presenter, "Paid Leave and Other Legal Considerations for the COVID-19 Pandemic," Ballard Spahr webinar, April 2, 2020
• Presenter, "Furloughs, Layoffs, and Related Employment and Benefits Issues," Ballard Spahr webinar, March 26, 2020
• "Structuring and Implementing Executive Compensation Strategies in Private Equity Portfolio Companies," Ballard Spahr event, Minneapolis, February 28, 2019
• "Labor, Employment and Benefits Year in Review 2018," Ballard Spahr CLE, February 27, 2019
• "The Impact of an Aging Workforce and How Employers Can Prepare," Ballard Spahr CLE, January 10, 2019
• "Employee Benefits Outlook 2018: What's Hot and What's Not," 2017 Ballard Spahr SEPA SHRM HR Legal Summit, September 14, 2017 
• "General Counsel Issues in Higher Education," a Ballard Spahr webinar, January 17, 2017
• Guest Speaker, "In the Workplace" segment, Sirius XM Business Radio, November 3, 2016
• "Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP) 101," A Ballard Spahr, Archer & Greiner, Capital Trustees, and Katz, Sapper & Miller webinar, March 23, 2016
• "Hot Topics in Employee Benefits," 2015 HR Legal Summit: Labor and Employment Law Compliance for Today's HR Professional, Ballard Spahr and SEPA SHRM conference, Langhorne, Pa., September 11, 2015
• "Fiduciary Gridiron? How to Succeed on the Field: Selecting Your Team," BDO Webinar, May 21, 2015