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  1. Professionals

Anne Becker

Partner

Chicago

+1 312-558-9119

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  • Overview
  • Experience
  • Credentials
  • Insights & News

Anne advises clients regarding a variety of employee benefits matters. She focuses her practice primarily on the design and administration of pension plans (including cash balance and pension equity plans), 401(k) and profit sharing plans, and nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements (including supplemental executive retirement plans).

Anne counsels privately and publicly held corporations in connection with employee benefits design and transition matters arising from corporate mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. She also advises clients regarding fiduciary and plan investment issues under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, including matters related to the holding of employer stock under 401(k) plans and employee stock ownership plans.

Anne routinely represents clients in negotiations before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), U.S. Department of Labor, and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, including various applications to the IRS to maintain the tax-qualified status of retirement plans.

Prior to joining private practice, Anne served as a law clerk to the Honorable Sarah Evans Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

Key Matters

Some of the experience represented below may have been handled at a previous firm.

  • Advised an insurance company on the redesign of its qualified and non-qualified retirement benefit platforms. She worked directly with the CEO and the chairman of the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors to create and present a range of options to the Board and implement the final choice.
  • For a major durable goods manufacturer involved in sensitive negotiations with the IRS over its non-traditional pension equity plan, Anne led compliance with complex new hybrid plan regulations while working with the IRS to secure adequate time to implement the agreed upon solutions.
  • Routinely advises fiduciary committees through the review and resolution of high stakes benefit claims.

  • Listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Employee Benefits Law (2022–2025)
  • Recognized as a “Key Lawyer” in The Legal 500 U.S. for Labor & Employment: Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Transactional (2021–2023) and Labor & Employment: Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Design (2024)

  • Executives’ Club of Chicago Leadership Circle
  • Illinois Committee of the Pension Action Center Advisory Board
  • Chicago Cares Serve-a-Thon

Capabilities

Labor & Employment
Qualified Retirement Plans
Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
Executive Compensation Plans & Agreements
Financial Services

Key Matters

Some of the experience represented below may have been handled at a previous firm.

  • Advised an insurance company on the redesign of its qualified and non-qualified retirement benefit platforms. She worked directly with the CEO and the chairman of the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors to create and present a range of options to the Board and implement the final choice.
  • For a major durable goods manufacturer involved in sensitive negotiations with the IRS over its non-traditional pension equity plan, Anne led compliance with complex new hybrid plan regulations while working with the IRS to secure adequate time to implement the agreed upon solutions.
  • Routinely advises fiduciary committees through the review and resolution of high stakes benefit claims.

Credentials

Education

Anne received her B.A., summa cum laude, in Economics and French from DePauw University in 1999, where she became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society in 1998. She received her J.D., cum laude, from University of Michigan Law School in 2002, where she served as a note editor for the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform.

    Admissions
    • Illinois
    Clerkships
    • USDC - Southern District of IN for the Honorable Sarah Evans Barker
    • USDC - Southern District of IN for the Honorable Sarah Evans Barker

    Related Insights & News

    Anne's recent speaking engagements, publications, and media commentary include the following:

    • Winston & Strawn Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation & Labor and Employment Webinar, "Retirement Plans Outlook and Implications for 2022," September 28, 2021
    • Speaker, "Plan Governance Best Practices", Plan Sponsor Council of America, July 13, 2021
    • Speaker, “Considerations for Pension Plan De-Risking Strategies,” UBS, September 17, 2020
    • “Put Retirement Plans on the Year-End Checklist,” American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries, July 27, 2020
    • Speaker, “Year-End Checklist: COVID-19 issues and Preparing for 2021,” Plan Sponsor Council of America, July 22, 2020
    • Winston & Strawn Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation & Labor and Employment Webinar, “HR and Employee Benefits: Recent Developments and 2019 Trends,” November 28, 2018
    • “On Guard: Increased Litigation Leads Plan Sponsors to Take a Defensive Stance in Monitoring and Evaluating Fees,” PLANSPONSOR, February 2017
    • Panelist, “Lessons Learned from Litigation,” at the Best of PSNC PLANSPONSOR National Conference in Chicago, November 20, 2016
    • “The Truth About Your Annual Pension Funding Notice,” Forbes, May 14, 2014
    Blog
    Unanimous Supreme Court Decision Makes It Easier for Prohibited Transaction Claims to Survive a Motion to Dismiss

    April 28, 2025

    Blog
    Pension Risk Transfer Litigation Targets Multiply and Courts Finally Weigh In

    April 15, 2025

    Blog
    DOL Announces New Self-Correction Component of Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program: What Plans and Sponsors Should Know

    March 4, 2025

    Blog
    California Wildfires: How Can Employee Retirement Plans Help?

    January 23, 2025

    Blog
    Retirement Plan Contribution Limits Announced for 2025

    November 4, 2024

    Blog
    Supreme Court to Decide Pleading Standard in Prohibited-Transaction Litigation

    October 25, 2024

    Recognitions

    Winston Attorneys Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2025

    August 15, 2024

    Recognitions
    Winston & Strawn Recognized in The Legal 500 U.S. 2024

    June 12, 2024

    Blog
    The U.S. Department of Labor Finalizes its Most Recent Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary

    April 29, 2024

    Webinar
    SECURE 2.0 Planning for Large Employers

    November 8, 2023

    Recognitions
    Winston Attorneys Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2024

    August 17, 2023

    Recognitions
    Winston & Strawn Recognized in The Legal 500 U.S. 2023

    June 7, 2023

    View All Insights & News

    Capabilities

    Labor & Employment
    Qualified Retirement Plans
    Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
    Executive Compensation Plans & Agreements
    Financial Services
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