Sally Nielsen is a Partner in the Firm's ERISA Practice Group. She has nearly 30 years of experience advising mid-size and large private and tax-exempt entities on benefits issues related to the design, communication and administration of benefit plans and related funding vehicles. A significant part of her practice involves assisting clients on fiduciary aspects of plan administration and plan investment management.

Ms. Nielsen regularly represents plan investment committees of $1 billion plus defined benefit and 401(k) plans, including negotiating complex investment management and service provider agreements, and working with committees on securities lending and alternative investments. She has extensive experience in identifying and resolving employee benefits issues in corporate transactions as well as advising clients on executive compensation, work force reductions, welfare benefit plan issues and human resource operations, including compliance with health care reform requirements. She has represented employers in disputes with the IRS, the DOL, and the PBGC, as well as with private parties. She is a frequent speaker at benefits seminars, including conferences hosted by chief financial officers, benefits executives and in-house counsel from many of her U.S. Department of Energy contractor clients.

Ms. Nielsen received her B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from Albion College and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She received her J.D. degree, with distinction, from Emory University School of Law where she was Executive Articles Editor of the Emory Law Journal and a member of the Order of the Coif. Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Nielsen was a partner with King & Spalding LLP and Kilpatrick Stockton LLP and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP in their Atlanta offices.

• Professional Affiliations and Awards

  • State Bar of Georgia
  • District of Columbia Bar Association
  • Best Lawyers in America: Employee Benefits Law, 2008 - 2011
  • Department of Energy Contractor Attorneys' Association