Ian S. Kopelman is chair of DLA Piper's Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice group. With extensive experience in ERISA, he is responsible for all matters involving retirement and other fringe benefit programs for clients ranging in size from major publicly held corporations and public benefit plans to sole proprietorships and partnerships.

Mr. Kopelman's experience includes designing and drafting both qualified and non-qualified retirement and deferred compensation plans, including leveraged employee stock ownership plans, and he regularly counsels clients on plan implementation, administration, operation, and communication. Mr. Kopelman also works extensively in the area of employee welfare benefit plans, including health and health care cost containment programs, life insurance, disability, and flexible benefit (Section 125) plans. He has primary responsibility for benefit plan aspects of corporate acquisitions, mergers and divestitures, terminating plans, and researching and giving opinions on ERISA issues including those relating to plan qualification, reporting and disclosure, fiduciary responsibilities, and the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980. Mr. Kopelman also drafts master individual retirement account programs and employee pension benefit plans for banks, insurance companies, and brokerage houses, and regularly counsels clients in this area.

A nationally recognized figure in his field, Mr. Kopelman is a frequent speaker and has written extensively in the area of employee benefits. He is currently an adjunct professor of law at the John Marshall Law School and is also on the Advisory Board of its Masters of Law (LLM) program in employee benefits law for lawyers, and its Master of Science (MS) program in employee benefits law for non-lawyers. He is also a former member of the Board of Directors of, and is the current Legal Counsel to, The Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America. In the latter capacity, he testified before the US Department of Labor ERISA Advisory Committee, and in June 2009 he testified before a joint SEC and US Department of Labor hearing on target-date funds.

Among his many recognitions, Mr. Kopelman has been included in the annual editions of The Best Lawyers in America^® for employee benefits law since 2007. The Leading Lawyers Network cites Mr. Kopelman as an Illinois Leading Lawyer, and he is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in the World. Additionally, he has been named an Illinois Super Lawyer as the result of a research project conducted jointly by Law & Politics and Chicago magazines.