Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Veteran Jon Chatalian Joins Akin Gump
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(Washington, D.C.) – Akin Gump announced today that Jon Chatalian has joined the firm as senior counsel in its labor and employment practice in Washington. Mr. Chatalian joins the firm from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).
At the PBGC, Mr. Chatalian most recently served as Deputy Assistant General Counsel, responsible for overseeing, managing and coordinating the work of legal and actuarial teams for all multiemployer pension plan program litigation, compliance and regulatory matters.
Mr. Chatalian was also a member of the PBGC working team regularly coordinating with congressional staff on multiemployer pension plan legislative reform proposals. He also worked on the team responsible for the implementation of the Multiemployer Pension Plan Reform Act. In addition to his multiemployer pension plan work, Mr. Chatalian represented the PBGC before U.S. bankruptcy and district courts in various ERISA cases affecting the agency.
Bob Lian, head of Akin Gump’s labor and employment practice, commented, “Jon brings tremendous experience in matters related to multiemployer pensions and ERISA issues. His skill set and deep background in these areas will be of great value to our clients, and I am thrilled to welcome him to the firm.”
Mr. Chatalian joins a labor and employment team at Akin Gump that includes Eric Field, a former Assistant Chief Counsel at PBGC and recognized leader in the field. Together, Mr. Field and Mr. Chatalian will assist firm clients on pension and welfare plan issues affecting employers, including addressing pension issues involved in the participation in, and withdrawal from, defined benefit multiemployer pension plans, devising and implementing strategies for reducing exposure, and litigating withdrawal liability disputes.
The team also will continue to counsel employers on single-employer defined benefit plan matters, including the terminations of single-employer plans. They also advise clients on pension and other collectively bargained benefit matters involved in corporate restructurings and transactions and serve as plan counsel for employer-sponsored employee benefit plans.
“Akin Gump is well known for having a top-tier labor and employment team,” stated Mr. Chatalian. “It’s an exciting opportunity to be able to join with colleagues like Eric to advise employers on the full range of multiemployer pension issues and to put my experience to work on behalf of Akin Gump’s clients.”
Mr. Chatalian initially joined the PBGC as an attorney in 2008. He received his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 2008, and his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2004.
About Akin Gump’s Labor and Employment Practice
Described by Chambers USA as a “labor and employment giant [that is a] go-to firm for high-profile cases,” Akin Gump has been repeatedly recognized as having one of the nation’s premier labor and employment practices. The firm’s labor and employment lawyers represent a wide range of employers on their most complex and challenging labor and employment legal problems, from wage and hour class actions and discrimination cases, to arbitrations involving key talent, to complex labor controversies.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
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