Richard D. Hole

Profile

Richard is an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney and former chairman of the firm's management committee, a position he held from 2008-2015. He served as chair of the firm's employee benefits and executive compensation practice for over 10 years and remains actively involved in all aspects of the firm's employee benefits practice.

Richard has extensive experience in the development and implementation of non-qualified deferred compensation plans, including, for example, phantom stock plans, stock appreciation rights (SARs) plans and restricted stock plans. He also has assisted employers in designing and implementing employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and other forms of qualified retirement plans, including cash balance pension plans, deferred benefit plans and 401(k) wrap plans. As an employee benefits lawyer, Richard has served as counsel to the Boards of Directors, Pension Committees and Investment Committees of numerous not-for-profit and for-profit companies, providing advice and guidance on fiduciary responsibilities and duties, governance, regulatory compliance, selection, retention and oversight of third-party service providers and management of pension assets. He has represented employers in proceedings before the Department of Labor, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and the Internal Revenue Service, including for example, the termination of pension plans and the correction of operational failures in the administration of qualified and non-qualified pension plans.

Richard also has maintained an extensive practice in health care law. He has represented numerous physician groups in all aspects of their practice, including for example, employment matters, compensation techniques and plans, the sale of practices, regulatory compliance, including anti-trust, STARK, Medicare and Medicaid and the development of retirement plans. Richard also has served as counsel to hospitals and nursing homes, and represented hospitals in affiliations with other hospitals and joint ventures with physician groups. He has provided advice and counsel to the Boards and standing committees of hospitals on a wide variety of governance and regulatory issues.

Richard is a frequent lecturer for numerous organizations that have included the New York State Bar Association, the New York State Small Business Council, the New York Employee Benefits Conference, the Onondaga County Dental Society, the New York State Bankers Association and HANYS.

Representative Matters

• Served as outside counsel to Community General Hospital of Syracuse in the sale to Upstate University Hospital
• Served as outside counsel to F.F. Thompson Health System in an affiliation with the University of Rochester Medical Center
• Represented James Square Nursing Home in the termination of a defined benefit pension plan before the PBGC
• Represented New York Spine and Wellness Center in the licensing of a free-standing ambulatory surgery center
• Represented a major Central New York manufacturer in the design and implementation of several executive compensation plans

Honors & Affiliations

• Listed in:
  • The Best Lawyers in America® 2018, Corporate Law; Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law (listed for 30 years)
    • Best Lawyers' 2013 Syracuse Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law Lawyer of the Year
    • Best Lawyers' 2009 Syracuse Corporate Law Lawyer of the Year
  • Martindale-Hubbell®, AV Preeminent Rated
  • New York Super Lawyers 2019®, Employee Benefits
  • Who's Who in America
  • Who's Who in American Law
• New York State Bar Association, Committee on Employee Benefits; Health Care Law Section; Tax Law Section
• National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA)
• Associate Editor and Business Manager, Syracuse Law Review

Other Activities

• Board of Advisors, Syracuse University College of Law
• Board of Trustees and President, Seward House Museum, Auburn, New York
• Board of Trustees, United Way of Central New York
• Treasurer and Member, Executive Committee, Central New York Community Foundation, Inc.
• Board Member, Manufacturers Association of Central New York, Inc.
• Board Member, Pine Bluff Homeowners Association
• Board Member, Skaneateles Lake Association, Inc.
• Board Member, The Fountainhead Group, Inc.
• Former Director, Volunteer Lawyers Project of Onondaga County, Inc.
• Chairman, 2013-2014 United Way of Central New York Campaign
• Vice Chairman, 2012-2013 United Way of Central New York Campaign
• Former Member, Ethics Committee, Community General Hospital
• Former Member, Board of Trustees, Syracuse Symphony
• Former Adjunct Professor, Cayuga Community College