David M. Sawyer has experience advising and assisting clients on the overall design of their qualified retirement plans, such as profit sharing plans, 401(k) plans, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), money purchase pension plans and traditional defined benefit plans. His experience extends to collectively bargained pension plans, multiple-employer retirement plans, and 403(b), 457(b) and 457(f) plans.

David was an attorney with Klett Rooney Lieber & Schorling when it joined Buchanan Ingersoll in 2006. His practice is primarily focused on matters related to qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, executive compensation and employee health and welfare plans.

David also has experience advising clients on day-to-day administrative issues, maintaining the tax qualified status of their retirement plans, how to comply with ERISA's reporting and disclosure and fiduciary rules and issues arising under the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's (PBGC) jurisdiction.

He also has assisted clients on many aspects related to and arising from merging and spinning off defined contribution plans and defined benefit plans; matters relating to employee benefit concerns in corporate acquisitions, dispositions and mergers; how to correct operational and plan document failures under the Internal Revenue Service's voluntary correction programs; how to correct fiduciary breaches under the Department of Labor's (DOL) voluntary fiduciary correction program; how to correct delinquent Form 5500 filings under the DOL's Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance program; potential PBGC penalties; and conducting comprehensive fiduciary reviews.

David's experience with respect to employee welfare benefit plans includes advising clients in designing, establishing and maintaining severance plans, including supplemental unemployment benefit plans designed to minimize FICA and FUTA tax liability for both the employer and employee. His severance plan experience also includes assisting in the handling of participant claims under the plans' claims and appeals procedures and preparing ADEA releases.

David has prepared health plan documents, including summary plan descriptions, reviewed and negotiated administrative services agreements with third party administrator and advised clients on COBRA-related questions arising in connection with such plans. With respect to retirement plans, he has advised clients on how to correct delinquent Form 5500 filings under the DOL's Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance program.

While in law school, David was a research assistant to Robert J. Peroni, the Robert Kramer Research Professor of Law.

He was recognized as one of the top young lawyers in Pennsylvania by Pennsylvania Super Lawyers — Rising Stars Edition in 2006.