Wiener, Stephen W.

Andrea is an associate in the firm of Briggs and Morgan, Professional Association. She is a member of the Labor and Employment Section, and the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Group. Andrea has extensive experience working with companies who sponsor employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and has advised corporations, shareholders, trustees and ERISA fiduciaries in all aspects of ESOP design, implementation, administration, compliance and termination. She has also advised ESOP companies on issues related to corporate governance and business succession. 

Andrea practices principally in the areas of:

• Qualified retirement plan design, administration, termination, compliance and counseling
• Non-qualified deferred compensation plans and 409A compliance
• Health and welfare plan design
• Equity compensation strategies
• IRS compliance
• Employee communication and disclosure requirements
• Fiduciary duties, prohibited transactions and ERISA claims

Andrea counsels employers on a wide range of employee benefits issues, including plan drafting and design, implementation, administration, and termination. As part of her practice, she assists employers with all aspects of ERISA compliance for retirement, health and welfare plans, including:  reporting, disclosure, fiduciary, funding and nondiscrimination requirements. She has represented employers before the IRS on favorable determination letter applications and also assists clients in correcting errors related to the agency’s compliance resolution program. In addition, she represents clients before the Department of Labor (DOL) in examinations and audits, prohibited transaction exemption requests, and the Delinquent Filers Voluntary Correction Program.

Andrea is a member of many legal trade associations, including the American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section, the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Employee Benefits Section, the Hennepin County Bar Association and Minnesota Women Lawyers. In addition, she is also involved with the Midwest Pension Conference and the Twin Cities Compensation Network.

Andrea received her B.S. in recreation and parks from the University of Minnesota. She obtained her J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law, where she also received her LL.M. in taxation soon after. Andrea joined Briggs in 2008 after practicing for several years with another Twin Cities law firm.