Howard M. Bard

Of Counsel

Howard Bard has extensive experience in all aspects of employee benefits law including ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. Mr. Bard specializes in advising clients on fiduciary duties and compliance, prohibited transactions, investment management issues, health care contracting and compliance, and health care fraud and abuse issues. Mr. Bard has represented a number of ERISA plans before federal enforcement agencies and he designs and implements operational and regulatory compliance programs for pension plans and health and welfare plans. Mr. Bard’s practice includes the provision of legal advice to clients on plan design and administration issues, benefit appeals, as well as COBRA and HIPAA privacy and security compliance.

Prior to joining Slevin & Hart, Mr. Bard was a shareholder in a small Washington, D.C. firm that also specialized in employee benefits law. Before moving to private practice Mr. Bard served in the Office of Enforcement of the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the federal agency responsible for the administration and enforcement of Title I of ERISA. During his tenure with the Department of Labor, Mr. Bard conducted investigations of large multi-jurisdictional pension and welfare plans, and received the Secretary of Labor’s Exceptional Achievement Award for his work on the Executive Life Insurance Company investigations.

Mr. Bard is a frequent speaker at the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans conferences and the Society of Professional Benefits Administrators conferences. He serves on the Government Liaison Committee of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and was appointed by the Secretaries of Labor and Health and Human Services to serve on a congressionally mandated working group relating to ERISA’s Qualified Medical Child Support Order requirements.

Mr. Bard is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland. He received a bachelor of business administration from the George Washington University School of Government and Business Administration in 1985, and a J.D. from the George Washington University National Law Center in 1988.