Former Association Chief Counsel Expands Employee Benefits Practice Services
June 18, 2007
Washington, D.C. (June 18, 2007) - The Washington, D.C. office of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP is pleased to welcome Denise Trujillo as a corporate partner in its Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group. Before joining the firm, Trujillo was an executive director and chief counsel at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), a national trade organization that represents more than 900 cooperative members throughout the U.S. Her practice focuses on day-to-day client counseling related to plan operation and regulatory compliance for defined contribution and defined benefit retirement plans, executive and equity compensation programs, and health and welfare plans. She also counsels clients on compensation and benefit plan matters that result from corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions and reduction-in-force initiatives.
“Denise brings with her an in-house perspective that provides an added dimension to our group,” said Thomas Wardell, chair of McKenna Long & Aldridge’s corporate department. "Her experience is the right match for our practice, and we are excited to have her join us. The combination of talent and the more than 20 years of experience that she brings will immediately compliment a number of existing firm projects."
While at NRECA, Trujillo held various positions, including serving as the vice president and general counsel to its mutual fund, and chief counsel with respect to its retirement plans and compliance departments. She provided counsel on a variety of benefit plans, including non-qualified deferred compensation plans for taxable and tax-exempt entities. Trujillo worked at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at the beginning of her career.
Trujillo has extensive experience in representing clients before the IRS, Department of Labor, and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. She has also counseled clients with respect to their institutional IRAs, VEBAs, and company-sponsored Cafeteria (Section 125) Plans.
Trujillo received her LL.M. in Taxation from Temple University School of Law (1985), her J.D. from Temple University School of Law (1984), and her B.A. from Haverford College (1980). She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and is a member of the American Bar Association and D.C. Bar Association.