Jason C. Ray is a senior attorney in the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice. Mr. Ray focuses his practice on all aspects of employee benefits, including advising employers in the design, implementation, and regulatory compliance of tax-qualified and nonqualified retirement plans. He represents clients before the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor on matters related to employee benefits, including penalty assessment, plan correction, and plan audit.

Mr. Ray has a background in employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), and has been involved in numerous ESOP transactions, including seller-financed and leveraged and nonleveraged buyouts as part of ownership succession transactions. He also has experience in the design and drafting of ESOPs, KSOPs, and other stock-based compensation arrangements, as well as counseling clients on issues that arise in their operation and administration.

Mr. Ray has been involved in representing companies and fiduciaries in ESOP stock drop cases and ERISA breach of fiduciary duty cases. He also counsels clients on employee benefits issues that arise in corporate transactions, and he provides guidance to clients with respect to benefits integration in preparation for and following these transactions.

Mr. Ray earned his LL.M. in tax in 2000 and his J.D. in 1999, both from Southern Methodist University School of Law, and a B.A. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1994.

Mr. Ray is admitted to practice in Texas and before the U.S. Tax Court.