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Kalmer helps clients with multi-employer plans, ACA

Kalmer helps clients with multi-employer plans, ACA

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Stacie Kalmer
Stacie Kalmer

The saying “timing is everything” could have been originally written about Stacie Kalmer and the way she ended up with a successful employee benefits practice at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren.

Working in 2009 as a summer associate at Reinhart, Kalmer learned that the firm had openings in its employee benefits practice and accepted an offer to join it. When Kalmer took a position at the firm a year later, she found that the recently passed Affordable Care Act, also known as the ACA, presented her with an opportunity to help clients make the most of the recently passed health-care law.

“I learned something new every day,” Kalmer said. “Everyone was starting from the same place with learning about the law and helping clients navigate through the law. It was fortuitous.”

To make sure her clients stay well informed, Kalmer works hard to keep up with the law and its many changes. She also makes presentations on the ACA to outside groups, helping others stay up to date on the latest developments.

“To me, it’s like solving a puzzle. You look at the different rules and regulations and help your client find the best possible solution,” Kalmer said.

In addition to keeping clients up to date and compliant with ACA regulations, Kalmer provides guidance concerning employee-benefit plans to Taft-Hartley multi-employer plans, corporations and government employers. She helps with plan design and administration and advises plan fiduciaries on compliance and corporate governance.

“There are so many questions people have related to health plans,” she said. “It is definitely an area where employers are looking for assistance.”

“I’m always working to keep up with the industry,” Kalmer added. “There is a lot happening. The work is ever changing and always interesting.”

Wisconsin Law Journal: What makes your work important to you?

Stacie Kalmer: Getting the opportunity to help clients navigate the complex, intersecting laws impacting their employee benefit plans in creative ways. Figuring out how to meet the client’s goals in a compliant way is really satisfying to me.

WLJ: Who is your hero in the legal field?

Kalmer: Hero is a bit of a strong word, but I would definitely say there are people that I admire in my practice. I’ve also been fortunate to have a couple great mentors so far in my career. I won’t name names, but I consider these attorneys to be role models.

WLJ: What do you do outside of work to deal with stress from the office?

Kalmer: I do my best to disengage from work for as much time as possible outside of the office, then I focus on whatever activity I have going on at the time, whether that is spending time with my family and friends, reading, attending the theater or a concert.  I also make taking some time off a priority. I may not go on some lovely vacation each year, but I’ll at least get up north to our cabin with my family. I know that I need mental breaks to recharge.

WLJ: What’s one thing many people get wrong about what you do?

Kalmer: Oftentimes people think that I’m either an employment attorney or that I do human resources work. Both are close, in that my practice touches on those fields, but my practice really focuses on advising the employer sponsoring a health or retirement plan or advising the boards that manage those plans.

WLJ: What’s your favorite memory from law school?

Kalmer: I have fond memories of attending the Public Interest Law Society auction each year, which was a great opportunity to dress up and focus on something fun. As far as the actual study part of law school, I don’t know that I have a favorite memory — I have lots of vivid memories, but I don’t know that I’d classify them as favorites! — but my favorite course work was a corporate governance seminar. I really enjoyed the course and it ended up being one of the courses that has actually been beneficial for my practice.

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