Employee Benefits
Professional Experience
Summer’s practice covers a variety of employee benefit areas, including qualified plan work, executive compensation, and health and welfare issues such as HIPAA, COBRA, and Section 125. Summer has assisted many companies in their compliance with the HIPAA privacy rules. She has experience drafting all types of plan documents, summary plan descriptions, and employee communications as well as advising clients regarding establishing, changing, and terminating benefit programs. She assists plan sponsors and fiduciaries in complying with ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code.
Summer is the President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Western Pension & Benefits Conference and is an active member of the Los Angeles Employee Benefits Group. She was also a Fringe Benefit Subcommittee Junior Liaison for the Taxation Section of the American Bar Association.
Publications and Presentations
Summer is a frequent speaker on employee benefits issues for various professional organizations. Her presentations include “ERISA Litigation Update,” “What to Expect in 2008 for Pension and Retirement Plans,” and “HIPAA and Other Regulatory Hurdles” for the Western Pension & Benefits Conference; “Health and Welfare Plan Update” for the Benefits Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association; “Introduction to Employee Benefits” for the Certificate in Employee Benefits Law Seminar of the Institute for Applied Management & Law.
Education
Summer received her J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, CA, where she was the Valedictorian. She was also a Note and Comment Editor for the Pepperdine Law Review. She received her B.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara, CA.
