About Kate Ulrich Saracene

Kate Saracene speaks HR. Having spent a dozen years as a human resources (HR) and labor relations professional at Xerox, she knows what walking in her clients' shoes is like. Clients count on her to assist them throughout the life cycle of the employment relationship, from hiring to firing and everything in between. But Kate's national reputation was built on her deep knowledge of health and welfare employee benefit plans, third-party benefits administration, multiple employer health plan arrangements and Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association (VEBA) trusts. She is the leader of the firm's Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice.

Where benefits and employment law intersect

Kate is known nationally as a thought leader in health and welfare plan benefits. She regularly helps clients that sponsor, insure or administer health and welfare and fringe benefit plans, including group medical, dental and vision plans, flexible spending accounts, health reimbursement arrangements, dependent care assistance programs, cafeteria plans, wellness programs and paid family leave, among others.

For plan sponsors and administrators, Kate assists with everything from plan design and strategy to day-to-day administration and funding. She regularly helps clients with large-scale projects, like the establishment of on-site medical clinics, the conversion to self-funding or restructuring of overfunded VEBA trusts. She also assists with health and welfare plan issues that arise in connection with corporate mergers and acquisitions.

For insurers, third-party administrators, and health care providers engaged in direct contracting with employer plans, Kate assists with product development, delivery, operations and compliance. Kate also works with numerous industry associations, school districts and municipalities regarding the formation and operation of multiple employer benefit plans, and with both employers and unions regarding collective bargaining for employee benefits.

Kate's in-house background gives her valuable insight into day-to-day benefits and employment issues. Human resources managers are often faced with issues that cross over different areas of law, including labor and employment, ERISA, tax and state insurance laws. Kate is adept at untangling the issues that arise at the intersection of these differing mandates. If an employee becomes disabled, for instance, she can help the employer to navigate questions around private disability insurance, state temporary disability benefits, federal Social Security Disability insurance, accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, protections under a collective bargaining agreement, time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act and state leave laws. Wellness programs, another area of focus for Kate, can require compliance with nine different federal laws that overlap the areas of labor and employment, ERISA, tax and privacy regulations.

She has worked with clients of all sizes and in a multitude of industries and has accumulated a wealth of experience working with clients in health care, K-12 education and manufacturing. Kate brings to bear her dozens of years of experience in HR, labor and employment law and benefits to craft advice and solutions that are both practical and efficient for the clients implementing them.

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Practice Focus

  • Employee benefits and executive compensation
  • Health and welfare and fringe benefit plan compliance, administration and funding
  • Labor and employment
  • Insurance regulation
  • Third-party benefits administration
  • Data privacy and security
  • ERISA litigation

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Publications

Presentations and Events

Practices
Education
  • Yale Law School, JD
  • Cornell University, BS
Bar Admissions
  • New York
  • Illinois
Court Admissions
  • US District Court, Western District of New York
  • US District Court, Northern District of New York
Recognitions
Recognized or listed in the following:
  • Crain's New York Business
    Notable Women in Law, 2022
  • The Legal 500 United States
    Recommended Attorney, 2019
Award Methodologies