EDUCATION:

Washington and Lee University School  of Law

Lexington, Virginia
J.D., Summa Cum Laude, 1996

Order of the Coif, Washington and Lee University Law Review Editorial Board

James Madison University

Harrisonburg, Virginia
B.A., Summa Cum Laude, with Distinction in English, 1993

ADMISSIONS:

• Virginia
• U.S. District Court Western District of Virginia
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit

MEMBERSHIPS:

• Virginia State Bar
• Virginia State Bar, Trusts and Estates Section, Assistant Newsletter Editor, Board of Governors Member
• Harrisonburg-Rockingham Bar Association

Jennifer E. Shirkey 

Shareholder
Harrisonburg
Phone: 540-437-3108
E-mail:  jes@lolawfirm.com
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At Lenhart Obenshain

Jennifer E. Shirkey concentrates her practice in estate planning, employee benefits, tax and business law.  She assists families and individuals with their trust and estate needs daily. In addition, she helps business, non-profit and governmental employers of all sizes navigate their employee benefit plans through the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA. She also has substantial experience in the tax and business aspects of for-profit and non-profit entity startups, as well as their ongoing operations and mergers and acquisitions. In working with clients, she applies her technical legal expertise to give practical counsel and develop creative strategies to estate planning, employee benefit, and general business challenges. She is a frequent public speaker on tax issues.

Experience

CASE RESULTS DEPEND ON A VARIETY OF FACTORS UNIQUE TO EACH CASE AND DO NOT GUARANTEE OR PREDICT A SIMILAR RESULT IN ANY FUTURE CASE.

• Developed wealth transfer plans for many business owners and other individuals with an emphasis on tax, succession and philanthropic issues
• Guided families through estate and trust administration process and resolved conflicts
• Counseled institutional fiduciaries on a wide variety of estate and trust matters
• Drafted and reviewed for ERISA and tax compliance scores of retirement plans, including main plan documents, summary plan descriptions, adopting resolutions, trusts, QDROs, administrative policies and forms, annual reporting and disclosure issues, and 404(c) participant-directed investing and other fiduciary matters including 401(k), profit sharing, 403(b), 457, defined benefit and ESOP plans
• Assisted numerous for-profit and non-profit organizations with executive deferred compensation matters, including SERPs, stock options and appreciation rights, phantom stock, ineligible 457(f) plans, and split dollar life insurance as well as funding mechanisms such as Rabbi trusts
• Designed, implemented and updated all types of welfare and fringe benefit plans, including Section 125 cafeteria/flexible spending plans, insured and self-insured health plans, short- and long-term disability plans, life insurance benefits, tuition assistance plans, dependent care benefits and employee assistance programs
• Developed COBRA and HIPAA compliance forms and procedures for many insured and self-funded health plans
• Counseled clients regarding remedial strategies for non-compliant benefits plans, including use of the EPCRS, DFVC and VFC programs
• Prepared organizational documents and obtained tax-exempt status determination letters for 501(c)(3) and other non-profit entities and advised them regarding ongoing concerns such as directors’ duties and liabilities, annual reporting and UBIT issues

Recognitions

• Best Lawyers in America®
   Employee Benefits Law - 2010 and 2011
   Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law - 2012
• "Legal Elite," Virginia Business Magazine
   Young Lawyers - 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010
• "Virginia Rising Star," Law & Politics Magazine
   Tax - 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011
• Law Clerk to the Honorable H. Emory Widener, Jr., US Court of  Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

More than Lenhart Obenshain

• The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Chair and Board Member, Past Vice President since 2008
• Harrisonburg Rotary Club, President Elect
• Rockingham Memorial Hospital Foundation, Board Member
• Harrisonburg Education Foundation, Board Member
• Wildlife Center of Virginia Foundation, Board Member
• Central Virginia Employee Benefits Council

Legal Assistant

Rose Funkhouser
540-437-3115
rfunkhouser@lolawfirm.com

Areas of Practice

Estate Planning
Business Law
ERISA
Employee Benefits
Tax Law

Upcoming

Presenting "COBRA Developments and Mid-Year Election Change Rules"