Melissa Ostrower

Melissa Ostrower is a principal in the New York City, New York, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. and co-leader of the firm’s Employee Benefits practice group. She counsels clients in a broad range of employee benefit matters, including general compliance and administration of qualified retirement plans and nonqualified retirement plans.

Melissa assists clients with welfare plan issues involving cafeteria plans, health plans, flexible spending accounts, COBRA and the Affordable Care Act. She regularly speaks on all benefits issues including federal health care reform, fiduciary compliance and executive compensation.

Melissa regularly advises on executive compensation matters, including issues related to compliance with Section 409A, 162(m) and 280G of the Internal Revenue Code.

Melissa represents clients in connection with Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor audits and information requests. She also regularly assists clients in fixing plan operational and document errors. Melissa negotiates with benefits providers, volume submitter and prototype vendors, TPAs, insurers and auditors.

Melissa also advises clients in connection with phantom and equity based compensation arrangements.

While attending George Washington University Law School, she was a member of the Law Review.

Honors and Recognitions

• Who's Who Legal, “Recommended Attorney in Pension & Benefits” (2024)
• Legal 500 USA, "Recommended Attorney" (2020, 2023)
• Thomson Reuters, “Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer – Independently Rated Lawyers”

Speeches

• 2020 New York Virtual Healthcare & Retirement Plan Summit (New York, NY, October 2020) (presenter)
• “What to expect in 2019: A Legal Discussion on your Benefits Plans,” New York City SHRM (New York, NY, March 2019) (panelist)