Katharina E. Babich
Partner, Kansas City
Telephone: +1 816 460 2612
Email: katharina.babich@dentons.com
Website bio: https://www.dentons.com/en/katharina-babich

Katharina Babich is a partner of the Dentons US Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice, which has been recognized by Legal 500 for several years concurrently for excellence in Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Design. Additionally, the US practice has been recognized numerous times by US News & World Report, Best Law Firms including in 2023 on a national level in the area of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law.

Katharina has over 30 years of experience advising clients in a wide variety of employee benefits and executive compensation matters, including the design, implementation and administration of qualified retirement plans, health and welfare plans, and nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements for both publicly and privately held employers. Katharina has also counseled insurance companies as well as recordkeeping and benefits consulting clients in connection with their provision of employee benefits services to their customers. She has significant experience and expertise in handling employee benefits matters in the mergers and acquisitions context, from both a buyer’s and seller’s standpoint. Katharina has also assisted clients in HIPAA privacy and security compliance and has conducted HIPAA privacy training classes for client personnel.

Katharina also has extensive experience in assisting “troubled” plans, including the handling of Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service employee plans audits and negotiation of submissions under the Internal Revenue Service’s Employee Plan Compliance Resolution System. She has conducted numerous compliance audits for all types of employee benefit plans, including qualified retirement plan audits and COBRA compliance audits.

Katharina is a member of the ESOP Association and an Associated Professional Member of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries. Further, she holds the designation of Qualified Pension Administrator.

Experience

• Mattr Corp.: Advising client in connection with its acquisition of AmerCable Incorporated, a globally recognized US manufacturer of highly engineered wire and cable solutions used in mission critical applications.

Recognition

• Best Lawyers in America
  • Employment Law – Management, 2025
• Listed, Recognized Lawyer for Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Design, The Legal 500, 2023

Insights

• “Retirement, Health and Welfare Provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021,” Dentons client alert, February 8, 2021
• “IRS FAQs: Coronavirus-Related Relief for Retirement Plans and IRAs,” Dentons client alert, May 15, 2020
• “SECURE Act signed into law – navigating the key modifications,” Dentons client alert, January 13, 2020
• “IRS issues cost of living adjustments to retirement plan limit,” Dentons client alert, November 7, 2019
• “Final hardship withdrawal regulations issued – where do we stand,” Dentons client alert, October 8, 2019
• “HIPAA Implications for Employers,” HIPAA Patient Privacy Compliance Guide, January 2005

Memberships

• American Bar Association
• Kansas Bar Association
• Missouri Bar Association
• Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association

Areas of Focus

Practices

• Corporate
• Executive Compensation
• Executive Employment and Severance Agreements
• Government and Public Sector Plans
• Health and Welfare Benefits
• Pensions and Benefits Disputes
• Pensions and Benefits in Transactions and Reorganizations
• Pensions and Retirement Plans
• Pensions, Benefits and Executive Compensation
• Plan Fiduciary Advice, Funding and Investments
• Plan Governance

Education

• The University of Kansas School of Law, 1991, JD
• The University of Kansas, 1988, BS, Accounting and Business Administration, Dean’s List, Honors Program, Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honor Society

Admissions and Qualifications

• Kansas
• Missouri