Evelyn A. Haralampu
Partner
Practice Areas
Biography
Evelyn Haralampu advises clients on a wide array of ERISA, employee benefits, executive compensation and related taxation issues, having headed the employee benefits practice of a prominent Boston law firm for a number of years. She counsels businesses on deferred compensation in succession planning, and handles employee benefits and executive compensation in business transactions. She advises plan fiduciaries on their legal duties, including avoiding prohibited transactions, negotiating service contracts with benefits providers, and correcting operational failures of employee benefit plans. She counsels employers in handling executive compensation, severance arrangements, separation agreements, equity plans, deferred compensation and tax-qualified retirement plans, and advises on related tax and employment issues. Evelyn counsels non-profits on governance issues, 403(b) tax-sheltered annuities, and 457(f) executive compensation plans. She advises on the privacy protection of health information under HIPAA, and data privacy matters under Massachusetts law. She represents clients before the IRS and U.S. Department of Labor.
Evelyn has written many articles, has been quoted in many publications and regularly speaks at events on a wide variety of employee benefits and executive compensation issues. She has an AV® Preeminent Rating by Martindale-Hubbell, was listed as a Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Go-To Lawyer, Taxation for 2024, has been named by The Best Lawyers in America© as a Best Lawyer in Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law since 2013. Evelyn received an LL.M in taxation from Boston University School of Law and is a graduate of Suffolk University Law School and Wellesley College.
Articles Published
- “Establishing Standing in Pension Cases for Fiduciary Claims,” Bloomberg Tax Management Memorandum, November, 2024
- “Loper Issues in Uncertainty as Courts May Reinterpret ERISA,” Bloomberg Tax Management Memorandum, September, 2024
- “After Chevron: ERISA Cases to Watch,” LAW360, August, 2024
- “Takeaways From Justices’ Redemption Insurance Decision (Connelly v. US),” LAW360, June, 2024
- “Repatriation Tax on Shareholders | Moore v. U.S.,” Burns & Levinson Client Advisory, June 2024
- “SCOTUS Clarifies Valuing Closely-Held Stock for Estate Tax Purposes | Connelly v. U.S.,” Burns & Levinson Client Advisory, June 2024
- “ERTC Moratorium,” Burns & Levinson Client Advisory, September 2023
- “Employee Retention Tax Credit and More on the IRS Fraud Alert,” Burns & Levinson Client Advisory, July 2023
- “Executive Compensation and Clawbacks,” Burns & Levinson Client Advisory, June 2023
- “Employee Retention Tax Credit in 2023,” Burns & Levinson Client Advisory, June 2023
- “ERISA Fiduciaries and ESG Investing,” Burns & Levinson Client Advisory, March 2023
- “SCOTUS on Salaried Employees and Overtime Pay,” Burns & Levinson Client Advisory, March 2023
- “VAS Holdings v. Commissioner of Revenue,” May 31, 2022
- “Department of Labor Issues New Guidance on Cryptocurrency in Retirement Plan,” March 23, 2022
- “ERISA Prudence and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Factors,” March 7, 2022
- “ERISA Fiduciary Prudence Does Not Necessarily Reflect Modern Portfolio Management,” February 16, 2022
- “COBRA Subsidies: Employer Obligation To Notify Employees by May,” May 25, 2021
- “Consolidated Appropriations Act: An Outline of the Benefits Provisions,” January 15, 2021
- “COVID-19: Worker’s Compensation in Massachusetts,” July 23, 2020
- “Private Equity Investments in Retirement Plans: DOL Information Letter,” July 6, 2020
- “Returning to the Workplace: What Employers Need to Know,” May 22, 2020
- “Maximizing PPP Loan Forgiveness with Compensation Planning,” May 7, 2020
- “Employment Taxes and Increasing Cash Flow,” April 9, 2020
- “Employer Costs and Massachusetts Unemployment Benefits During COVID-19,” April 2, 2020
- “CARES Act: Employee Benefits,” March 29, 2020
- “Employee Benefits During COVID-19,” March 24, 2020
- “Changes Under the SECURE Act Affecting Retirement Savings,” December 20, 2019
- “When Privacy Does Not Apply, But Tax Does: Cryptocurrency Transactions,” September 27, 2019
- “Millionaire’s Tax: Fairness or Folly?” June 14, 2018
- “Retirement Plan Fee Litigation: Protecting Fiduciaries,” Burns & Levinson Employee Benefits Update, September 2017
- “Securing Protected Health Information: FBI Warning,” Burns & Levinson Privacy & Security Update, April 2017
- DOL’s Fiduciary Rule: On the Road to More Change?” Burns & Levinson ERISA Update, April 2017
- “Supreme Court’s Evolution in Defining Equitable Remedies under ERISA,” Bloomberg BNA, April 2017
- “No Change by Trump: Fiduciary Regulations Still Effective in April,” Burns & Levinson ERISA Law Update, February 2017
- “Trump and the Debate Over the Fiduciary Rules Affecting Retirement Savings,” Burns & Levinson ERISA Law Update, December 2016
- “ERISA Liability,” MCLE treatise, Massachusetts Employment Law, December 2016
- “Health Reimbursement Accounts for Small Employers,” Burns & Levinson Employment Update, December 2016
- “Auto Dealers Lead the Way for Ignoring Certain Federal Regulations,” Burns & Levinson Employment Law Update, July 2016
- “The Top 7 Concerns for Employee Benefits Administrators,” Burns & Levinson Executive Compensation, Employee Benefits & ERISA Update, July 2015
- “Supreme Court’s Evolution in Defining Equitable Remedies Under ERISA,” Bloomberg BNA Benefits Practice Resource Center, June 2015
- “ERISA Fiduciary Duties for Plan Investments,” Burns & Levinson Employment Update, June 2015
- “U.S. Taxation of Canadian Registered Retirement Assets,” Burns & Levinson Employment Update, July 2014
- “Interim Guide for COBRA Notices,” Burns & Levinson Employment Update, May 2014
- “A Planning Note on Sun Capital Partner III LP v. New England Teamsters & Truckers Industries Pension Fund,” Burns & Levinson Employment Update, May 2014
- “Employee Benefits Checklist,” Burns & Levinson Employment Update, February 2014
- “Federal Health Care Reform and Massachusetts Family Businesses,” Massachusetts Family Business Magazine, Spring 2013
Classes & Seminars
- “Compensation Planning in Business,” Panelist, Massachusetts Bar Association Webinar, December 2023
Honors
- AV® Preeminent Rating by Martindale-Hubbell
- Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Go-To Lawyer, Taxation (2024)
- The Best Lawyers in America© Best Lawyer, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law (2013-2025)
- Massachusetts Super Lawyers (2004-2006, 2010-2018)
Education
- Boston University School of Law, Boston, Massachusetts
- LL.M.
- Major: Taxation
- Suffolk University Law School, Boston, Massachusetts
- J.D.
- Law Review, Suffolk Transnational Law Review, Editor
- Wellesley College
- B.A., Honors
Bar Admissions
- Massachusetts
- U.S. District Court District of Massachusetts
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Tax Court
Professional Associations
- Burns & Levinson Asset Management, Member of Investment Policy Committee
- Burns & Levinson Retirement Plan Committee, Chair
- New England Conservatory, former member of the Board of Overseers
- Massachusetts Bar Associations Taxation Law Section Council, Current Member, former Chair
- Boston Bar Association ERISA Committee, former Chair
- Member, Employee Benefits Committee of the American Bar Association
- UMass Boston Pension Project, Member, Board of Directors
- American Bar Association, ERISA subcommittees