Don A. Mazursky

Senior Counsel / Atlanta

Don A. Mazursky is Senior Counsel in the Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Practice of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP and is a Co-Leader of the Practice’s Fiduciary Institute.

Full Bio
Mr. Mazursky’s practice encompasses most areas of executive compensation and employee benefits with a particular focus on:
- Design, consulting, fiduciary, transactional and compliance aspects of 401(k) plans, pension plans, and other qualified and nonqualified deferred compensation plans;
- Advising clients on all aspects of the Affordable Care Act;
- Executive compensation and equity arrangements;
- Executive employment and severance agreements, including restrictive covenants;
- The benefits and compensation aspects of mergers and acquisitions;
- Dispute resolution with participants and governmental agencies;
- Serving as the legal advisor to numerous administrative, investment and compensation committees;
- Performing searches for retirement plan recordkeepers, actuaries, third-party administrators and auditors through request for proposal processes; and
- Negotiating vendor agreements for retirement and welfare plans.
Mr. Mazursky assists his clients by working closely with in-house counsel and compensation and benefits teams and by contributing leadership in the areas of executive compensation and employee benefits.

Before joining Smith Gambrell, Mr. Mazursky was the head of the executive and compensation practice at another Atlanta law firm and then was the founder and managing member of the largest law firm in the Southeast that specialized in executive compensation and employee benefits. That firm is now part of Smith Gambrell Russell’s executive compensation and employee benefits group.

Mr. Mazursky graduated with highest academic achievement in his class from Emory University and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he served on the Editorial Board of The Tax Lawyer. Mr. Mazursky has been ranked by Chambers USA as a Band 1 practitioner in Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation from 2020 – 2024. He has also been named to the Georgia Super Lawyer list by his peers in the Employee Benefits/ERISA practice areas.

Mr. Mazursky is a member of the Southern Employee Benefits Conference. He has served as a member of the Atlanta Bar Association Tax Section Board of Directors.
Representative Experience
- Assisted a Fortune 500 company in avoiding a $6 million penalty proposed by the IRS during a 401(k) plan audit.
- Performed recordkeeper search for the 401(k) plan of a Fortune 500 company that resulted in enhanced services and a 35% fee reduction.
- Assisted a multinational public company in terminating its pension plan and resolving with the PGBC significant problems arising from non-US taxpayers participating in the plan.
- Assisted a public company in designing and drafting a new nonqualified deferred compensation plan that complies with all laws and satisfies the client’s business goals.
- Advised a large health system on all employee benefits and compensation matters related to the acquisition of a physicians group.
- Advised a client on establishing a new fiduciary committee and drafting by-laws and policies.
- Performed discrimination tests (including a qualified separate line of business test) that allowed two subsidiaries of a public foreign parent company to maintain different designs within a single 401(k) plan.
Bar Admissions

Georgia
Education
Undergraduate
- Emory University
Law School
- Georgetown University Law Center
Memberships

Southern Employee Benefits Conference, member

Atlanta Bar Association, Tax Section, Board of Directors, past member
Recognitions

Chambers USA, Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation, Georgia (2020-2025)
The Best Lawyers in America®, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, Atlanta (2025-2026)
Super Lawyers®, Georgia Super Lawyer, Employee Benefits/ERISA
Martindale-Hubbell®, AV Preeminent Rating
Publications and Speaking Engagements

IRS Authorizes 401(k) Plan Contributions for Student Loan Repayments

DOL Fiduciary Rule Appears Dead

DOL Expands Access to Association Health Plans

Liberalized Hardship Withdrawals and California Wildfire Relief in Budget Act

IRS Reduces Fees to Encourage Employers to File VCPs for Qualified Plan Errors

Final Tax Reform Bill Approved by Congress

IRS Prepares to Begin Assessing ACA Penalties

New IRS Guidance on Curing Missed Loan Payments

HHS Begins Sending Exchange Notices

IRS Liberalizes Rules on Mid-Year Changes to Safe Harbor 401(k) Plans
SGR Publications
Press