150 E 4th St #4
Cincinnati, OH 45202-4018

P 513.629.9462
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Bar Admissions

  • Ohio
  • Illinois
  • U.S. Tax Court

Claudia G. Allen

Of Counsel

Claudia Allen’s practice is concentrated in the areas of employee benefits, qualified retirement plans and employment law. She is a frequent lecturer and author of many articles in areas of qualified retirement plans, deferred compensation, employment law and other employee benefits.

Claudia provides pro-bono legal services to the Pension Project of Pro-Seniors and to the Center for Respite Care as a board member.  She began her legal practice in Chicago as a Bigelow Fellow and lecturer in Law at the Law School of the University of Chicago and a visiting scholar at The American Bar Foundation, followed by an appointment as law clerk to Honorable Harlington Wood, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.  Claudia has been named an Ohio Super Lawyer every year since 2004 and is and listed in “Who’s Who in Cincinnati Law.”

Prior to moving to Cincinnati, she was coordinator of Business Law and lecturer in Law at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.  She has continued her college teaching as an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati Law School teaching a seminar on employee benefits and guest lecturer in the MBA program at Xavier University.

Education

  • SUNY at Buffalo Law School (J.D.)
  • SUNY at Buffalo (B.F.A., M.A)

Practice Areas

  • Employee Benefits
  • Employment Law

Significant Representations

  • Implemented Section 457 deferred compensation plans for executive directors of not-for-profit corporations
  • Frequent representation of employers before the IRS in resolving significant noncompliance issues in their qualified retirement plans, avoiding disqualification and tax penalties
  • Represented bankruptcy trustees in winding up “orphan” qualified plans abandoned in bankruptcy
  • Counsel to sponsors of more than 80 qualified retirement plans: responsible for implementing law changes, IRS audits, voluntary document amendments, advisor on operational issues such as eligibility, vesting and distributions
  • Advisor to employers with FMLA, COBRA, ADA, HIPAA and ERISA compliance issues and policy manual provisions
  • Implementation of combined qualified retirement plans to allow increased tax shelters for medical practices
  • Conducted HIPAA audit for trust providing medical aid to Fernald nuclear site victims

Articles, Publications & Lectures

  • Increase Your IRA Contributions in 2019
  • Xavier University Presentation: HIPAA Privacy in Data Exchange
  • Strauss & Troy Impact: COBRA Subsidy Affects Small Employers
  • Strauss & Troy Impact: National Defense Authorization Act: New Leave for Military Families
  • Cincinnati Business Courier: Bizwomen Section: What is a Roth 401(k)?
  • Cincinnati Bar Association Benefits Committee: ERISA Litigation Basics
  • HealthBridge Meaningful Use Conference: Update on Health Data Privacy and Security Laws
  • Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce: FMLA and ADEA update (small business series)

Community Involvement

  • Cincinnati Bar Association
  • American Bar Association
  • Center for Respite Care, board of directors
  • Pro-Seniors Pension project volunteer
  • University of Cincinnati Law School, adjunct faculty
  • Cincinnati Bar Association, admissions committee
  • Cincinnati Bar Association, tax committee, past chair
  • Cincinnati Bar Association, Southwest Ohio Tax Institute, past chair

Honors & Recognition

  • Celebrating 10 Years Of Excellence In Practice as an Ohio Super Lawyer 2004-2013
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent™ Attorney
  • Who’s Who in Cincinnati Law