|
Ariadna Alvarez is a Special Counsel in the Tax Practice Group. She is part of both the Employee Benefits and the Trusts and Estates Practice Areas. Ms. Alvarez was a Partner of McConnell Valdés' Tax Practice Group until early 2005, when she was appointed Senior Vice President of Banco Santander Puerto Rico, and Executive Trust Officer and Director of Santander Trust, which was one of the 100 largest trusts in the U.S. and the second largest in Puerto Rico.
Practice and Experience
Ms. Alvarez practice includes counseling clients on the establishment, qualification, administration, and termination of retirement plans, including drafting plan documents, deeds of trust, and assisting with the adoption of master/prototype plans. She also offers advice on the exercise of fiduciary duties, reporting and disclosure compliance before the P.R. Treasury Department and the U.S. Department of Labor, and has regularly delivered educational meetings to retirement plan participants. Ms. Alvarez also possesses extensive experience in welfare benefit issues and for over a decade has successfully litigated ERISA claims in federal court. She has argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Ms. Alvarez also counsels clients on Puerto Rico inheritance law, Puerto Rico and federal gift and estate tax provisions, and estate planning strategies, including designing and drafting deeds of trust and wills.
Education
Ms. Alvarez holds a Bachelor's degree in Finance (Money and Banking) and a Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from the University of Puerto Rico. In 1994 she earned the All American Scholars Award, and in 1990, the Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges Award. From 1993 to 1995 she was a member of the University of Puerto Rico Law Review, and from 1994 to 1995 she served as the Editor-in-Chief of "Entredicho", a publication of the U.P.R. Law Review.
She has attended the American Bankers Association's National Trust School and National Graduate Trust School, and holds the National Trust School Diploma of Graduation. She holds the Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA) designation issued by the Institute of Certified Bankers. She has attended numerous advanced legal seminars in the area of employee benefits law.
Admissions
She is admitted to practice before the courts of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Courts of the State of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, and the United States Supreme Court.
Memberships
Ms. Alvarez is a member of the Puerto Rico Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association and the American Bar Association (Tax Law, ERISA and Estate Planning divisions).
Publications/Public Engagements
Ms. Alvarez has lectured extensively on Puerto Rico tax developments affecting retirement plan distributions, ERISA compliance, and employee benefit plan design. She has been interviewed by local newspapers on topics such as participation in 401(k)/1165(e) plans, retirement planning, Keogh plan requirements, IRAs and HIPAA privacy rules. She has also been a speaker in seminars to attorneys on federal appellate practice and ERISA litigation and other employee benefits topics. She has published for the U.P.R. law review, and has also published several articles in local newspapers related to labor and employment law, and employee benefits. | 