Andrew J. Fawbush

Andrew J. Fawbush serves clients in the areas of executive compensation and employee benefits, bringing more than 50 years of legal experience to complex legal matters. He is distinguished by his deep expertise in ERISA and employee benefits law, particularly in handling executive compensation issues within mergers and acquisitions. His authoritative guidance benefits boards, compensation committees, and fiduciaries by ensuring compliance and effective governance in compensation and benefit arrangements.

Andrew is Of Counsel in the Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Practice of Smith Gambrell Russell LLP. He helps employers address the day-to-day challenges of employee benefits and executive compensation, as well as the treatment of these matters in mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions. His work includes advising on the design and implementation of equity-based, employment, separation, deferred compensation, change in control and similar compensation arrangements, with respect to Internal Revenue Code Sections 409A, 162(m) and 280G for executive officers and directors. Andrew also conducts in-depth compliance reviews of corporate qualified and non-qualified plans and advises with regard to derisking pension liabilities and pension plan terminations. He regularly represents clients in retirement plan audits conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor and Pension Benefit Guaranty Association.

He is nationally recognized in the field of ERISA and employee benefits. He is ranked in Chambers USA-Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation. He was selected for inclusion in both the Florida Super Lawyers and New York Super Lawyers lists in Employee Benefits/ERISA, as one of The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Employee Benefits, one of the Top Lawyers in Benefits Northeast Florida by Jacksonville Magazine and one of the “Top Employee Benefits Lawyers” by the International Bar Association. Andrew has written and lectured on many aspects of executive compensation, ERISA and employee benefits and has served on the Advisory Board of the Journal of Retirement Planning.

Andrew has held leadership roles during his career, including President of the Employee Benefit Council of Northeast Florida and as a faculty member in the University of North Florida Certified Employee Benefits Specialist Program. He is active in both professional and community organizations, including the American Bar Association, Tax Section; The Florida Bar, Tax Section, the Law Center Association Board of Trustees at the University of Florida College of Law where he was the initial recipient of the inaugural S. Austin Peele Distinguished Trustee Award. He served on the Board of Directors of the University of Florida Alumni Association and the University of Florida Athletic Association, where he served as President for both. He also enjoyed serving on the boards of the Riverside YMCA, Jacksonville Urban League and Southside United Methodist Church.

Andrew's Practice

Representative Matters

• Assisted Fortune 500 company with implementation of publicly-traded tracker stock as an additional investment option.
• Assisted client with the termination of a defined benefit pension plan and implementation of a wasting trust.
• Assisted multiple clients with successful completion of IRS, DOL and PBGC audits of employee benefits plans ranging in size of $10,000,000 to over $1,000,000,000.
• Advised professional sports associates and other exempt organizations on structuring benefit plans and compensation programs.
• Advised multiple religious affiliated organizations with special church plan issues for both retirement and welfare plans.
• Fawbush has served as executive compensation, benefits and ERISA counsel to Fortune 500 companies, their boards of directors and compensation committees, Plan Trustees, Committees and other fiduciaries, plan service providers, multi-employer pension plans and tax-exempt entities, including hospitals, churches, athletic associations sports leagues and charities.