Emphasis
Employee Benefits
Executive Compensation
ERISA Litigation
Class Actions
Biography
Ms. Ober is a shareholder and a member of the firm’s employee benefits and executive compensation and ERISA litigation practice groups. She devotes 75% of her practice to employee benefits and related litigation, and 25% to employment law advice and representation, including wage and hour issues. Ms. Ober’s employee benefits practice includes advising employers on the design of qualified pension plans, 403(b) plans and other deferred compensation arrangements, including executive compensation and employee incentive plans. Ms. Ober advises clients on employee benefit plan administration, including reporting and disclosure obligations, COBRA and HIPAA compliance, fiduciary responsibilities, IRS and U.S. Department of Labor correction programs, contingent work force issues, and employee benefit issues in corporate reorganizations. She also represents plan sponsors in IRS and U.S. Department of Labor audits. Ms. Ober represents clients in ERISA litigation, including actions for breach of fiduciary duty, wrongful denial of benefits, and discrimination, and claims by multiemployer plans for pension withdrawal liability. Ms. Ober has been retained as an expert witness in ERISA-related litigation. Her benefits clients include companies in the manufacturing, retail, legal services, brokerage, transportation, distribution, health care, technology and biotech industries, nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies and ERISA fund trustees.
Education
J.D., University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall)
B.A. Wellesley College
Phi Beta Kappa
Publications
Ms. Ober has authored and coauthored articles on new benefits legislation, the contingent workforce, domestic partnerships and same-sex marriage. Recent publications include a Littler Mendelson ASAP newsletter, Another New Headache for Employers: San Francisco’s Health Care Security Ordinance (December 2007).
Lectures & Presentations
Ms. Ober has been a speaker and panelist before employer and professional groups on current employee benefits, executive compensation and employment law issues, most recently as a speaker at the firm’s 2008 Executive Employer conference on “Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation – Five Things Every Employer Should Focus on in 2008” (April 2008).
Activities
Tax and Labor Sections of the American Bar Association
State Bar of California, Labor and Employment Law Section
Cases/Courts/Judges
State Bar of California
United States Supreme Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States District Courts for the Northern, Central and Eastern Districts of California
News