BOSTON, Jan. 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marcia Wagner, the Managing Director of The Wagner Law Group, widely recognized as the country’s top ERISA and employee benefits law firm, is pleased to announce that attorney Susan Elizabeth Rees has joined the firm as Of Counsel. “Susan’s wide-ranging experience over more than two decades at the U.S. Department of Labor will add unmatched depth to our team, both in terms of advising our clients on aspects of ERISA Title I compliance and litigation, as well as in providing unique insight into the continuing development of the laws and regulations governing employee benefits,” says Ms. Wagner.

Susan Rees has over 30 years of extensive experience with ERISA and other federal employment laws. In her capacity as a Division Chief for the Office of Regulations and Interpretations of the Employee Benefits Security Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington D.C., she provided advice to state and federal agencies, the public, and lawmakers and their staff, on ERISA interaction with state legislation involving all types of governmental plans and state retirement program alternatives. Throughout the course of her career, Ms. Rees has authored and provided valuable advice in the creation of many ERISA-related regulations, advisory opinions, field assistance bulletins, and other technical legal memoranda on complicated issues including ERISA preemption and employee benefit plan definitions. She has also been instrumental in providing advice on ERISA-related civil and criminal investigations, penalty proceedings and litigation, including on preparation of amicus briefs and on related federal statutes such as the Internal Revenue Code, FLSA, FMLA, ADEA, and the Administrative Procedures Act. Ms. Rees served as the EBSA’s representative in intra- and inter-agency deliberations on ERISA litigation and rule making including as the longstanding lead to the ongoing joint agency project on the definition of a governmental plan.

Ms. Rees is frequently asked to speak at bar association and industry group meetings, and is a Fellow in the prestigious American College of Employee Benefits Counsel. She earned a J.D. from Suffolk University and B.A. from Boston University, and is licensed to practice law in state and federal courts in Massachusetts, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals in the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 9th, and D.C. Circuits.

The Wagner Law Group:

The Wagner Law Group has been dedicated to the highest standards of integrity, excellence and thought leadership for over two decades and is considered to be the nation’s preeminent ERISA and employee benefits law firm. With 36 attorneys in nine offices, it provides unparalleled legal advice to its clients, including large, small and nonprofit corporations as well as individuals and government entities nationwide and in several foreign countries. The firm’s attorneys combine many years of experience in their fields of practice and include those who are AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell and have been named to the prestigious Super Lawyers list for 2018. The Wagner Law Group is nationally ranked as a Tier 1 Best Law Firm by the U.S. News & World Report and is certified as a woman-owned and operated business by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.