Carolyn E. Smith

• Counsel to a wide range of clients with respect to compliance issues under the Affordable Care Act, including insurers, providers, health plans and employers in a variety of industries.
• Counsel to individual companies, coalitions and trade associations on health care reform regulatory issues.
• Counsel to a publicly held media conglomerate with dynamic, complex benefit structures involving numerous traditional pension, cash balance and savings programs. Issues include plan design, early retirement window programs, compliance, and adapting to new legislative and regulatory developments.
• Counsel to a large governmental organization with respect to pension and savings plans.
• Counsel to financial institution clients with respect to planning and compliance issues relating to the executive compensation restrictions under the Troubled Assets Relief Program and counsel to public and private companies with respect to executive compensation issues including Sections 409A and 457A.
• Counsel to pension plans and investment funds regarding ERISA title I issues and alternative investments.
• Counsel to a variety of clients with respect to current legislative and regulatory issues ranging from pension funding to health care reform.
• Co-hosted Alston & Bird’s 16-part weekly series on the progress and effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“tax reform”). Topics included International Tax, Corporate Tax, Executive Compensation, Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare, and Partnerships.

Carolyn brings to her practice a unique blend of technical and policy experience, having served for over 20 years as counsel to the members and staff of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees. Carolyn utilizes her substantive background and in-depth experience in the regulatory and legislative process not only to counsel clients on compliance, but also to assist in strategic planning and advocacy in an uncertain and changing regulatory and legislative environment. Her current practice focuses on regulatory, compliance and legislative issues relating to health care, pensions, executive compensation and tax. Her clients include insurers, health plans, financial institutions, pharmaceutical manufacturers, media conglomerates and trade associations.

Prior to joining Alston & Bird, Carolyn was associate deputy chief of staff of the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. During her 20+ years on the Joint Committee staff, she was responsible for major health, pension and tax legislation from the Tax Reform Act of 1986 through the Pension Protection Act of 2006. In addition to advising Ways and Means and Finance Committee members and staff, she also worked closely with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service, the House Education and Labor Committee, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and the Department of Labor. She is recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® in Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law.

Bar Admissions

• District of Columbia
• California

Education

• University of California, Berkeley (J.D., 1981)
• University of California, San Diego (B.A., 1978)

Memberships