Jones Day lawyers have significant experience in counseling tax-exempt entities and church-related organizations. Our clients include nonprofit and religious hospitals, nonprofit and religious health-care systems, charitable organizations and foundations, schools and universities, trade associations, and federal credit unions.

With extensive knowledge of the special rules applicable to tax-exempt entities and church plans, Jones Day lawyers strive to bring creative solutions to the employee benefits and executive compensation issues that are unique to tax-exempt entities and church plans, including:

• Choosing among different types of qualified retirement plans.
• Design and drafting of welfare benefit plans and health-care programs.
• Design and drafting of Code Section 403(b) programs.
• Design and drafting of Code Section 457(b) plans and Code Section 457(f) plans.
• Fiduciary and governance counseling.
• Applying for rulings on a plan's status as a church plan.
• Audits of welfare benefit plans by the Department of Labor.
• CEP audits conducted by the Internal Revenue Service.
• Contract negotiations for executives and special executive benefit products.

Because of the breadth of our representations, we tend to see the hot issues and new products as they emerge in the market. As a result, we can provide our clients with information as to how others in the nonprofit world are approaching similar issues and finding solutions to similar problems. Our extensive representation of religious tax-exempt organizations provides our lawyers with significant experience in the unique fiduciary, regulatory, and governance issues applicable to church plans.