Tracy L. Mounts of Ogletree Deakins becomes first in Indiana to be an Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – September 8, 2009 – Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. (Ogletree Deakins), America’s third-largest labor and employment law firm, is pleased to announce that Tracy L. Mounts, an employee-benefits paralegal in its Indianapolis office, has become the first person in Indiana to earn the designation of Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent (ERPA). 

Launched by the Internal Revenue Service in 2009, the ERPA program requires an individual to take a rigorous two-part Special Enrollment Examination, successful completion of which allows him or her to represent taxpayers before the IRS regarding specific retirement plan matters.  In 2005, the Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT) recommended that the IRS develop the program to allow individuals who service retirement plans but who previously were not authorized to practice before the IRS to obtain the ERPA designation.  The IRS estimates that 3,000 to 6,000 legal practitioners will become ERPAs in the next five years, but currently only 150 professionals nationwide have earned the ERPA designation, and Ms. Mounts is the only person in Indiana to have done so.

More about Enrolled Retirement Plan Agents (ERPAs)

An ERPA is a professional who has successfully earned the privilege of representing clients regarding issues that arise involving the following programs: the Employee Plans Determination Letter program; the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System; and the Employee Plans Master and Prototype and Volume Submitter programs. ERPAs may also represent clients regarding 5500 and 5300 series forms, but not regarding actuarial forms or schedules.

More about Tracy L. Mounts

Prior to joining Ogletree Deakins in 2008, Tracy L. Mounts was an employee-benefits paralegal with other Indianapolis firms. She has worked continuously as an employee-benefits paralegal since 1988. Her primary focus is qualified employee-benefits plans, including drafting plan documents, drafting summary plan descriptions and administrative forms, preparing IRS determination letter applications for qualified plans, assisting with benefits issues involved in mergers and acquisitions, reviewing and assisting with the preparation of qualified domestic relations orders, and researching and assisting employers with legal issues surrounding plan administration and corrections of plan failures under IRS programs. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Ms. Mounts earned her A.S. in Paralegal Studies from the University of Indianapolis in 1985.

About Ogletree Deakins

Ogletree Deakins is the nation’s third-largest labor and employment law firm, representing management in all types of employment-related legal matters. The firm has 450 lawyers located in 35 offices from Miami to Los Angeles. In addition to handling labor and employment law matters, the firm has thriving practices focused on business immigration, employee benefits, and workplace safety and health law.  Ogletree Deakins represents a diverse range of clients, including more than half of the Fortune 50 corporations in the U.S.

For more information, please contact Dave Carew, public relations manager, at (615) 332-0718.