Amy M. Christen assists clients with a full range of employee benefit matters, including compliance and design of qualified retirement plans, health and other welfare plans and fringe benefit plans. As leader of the practice group’s Health and Welfare Team, Amy assists clients develop strategies to comply with the myriad of complex laws impacting employer sponsored group health plans, including the Affordable Care Act, COBRA and HIPAA Privacy and Security laws. Amy also advises clients on employee benefit concerns in mergers and acquisitions and ERISA litigation. Clients quoted in Chambers USA 2021 note that Amy is "a very smart and detailed lawyer, who is easy to work with and very responsive."

Before joining Dykema, Ms. Christen practiced employee benefits law for a boutique benefits firm and prior to that, a major Detroit-based law firm. She also clerked for the Ohio Court of Appeals.

Bar Admissions

Michigan, 1995

Education
University of Toledo, J.D., magna cum laude Ohio State University, B.A.

• American Bar Association
• Michigan State Bar Association, Labor and Taxation Sections
• Oakland County Bar Association
• Michigan Employee Benefits Conference

• 2006 - Detroit Medical Center - "ERISA Disclosure and Claims Review Procedures for Group Health Plans"
• 2005 - "Managed Care Primer (ERISA Compliance Chapter)"
• 2005 - Foundation For Healthy Community, Jackson County Employer Consortium - "HIPAA Non-Discrimination Rules & Bona Fide Wellness Plans"
• 2004 - "Domestic Partner Issues for Employee Benefit Plans, Employment Group Seminar
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• 2003 - "Tax Law Updates for Retirement Plans, Marsh-Dykema Presentation"
• 2003 - Employment Group Seminar - "COBRA and Other Welfare Benefits Update"
• 2003 - "Fiduciary Training for 401(k) Plans, Client Presentation"
• 2003 - "HIPAA Privacy Laws for Employers, Harbor Benefit Services"
• 2001 - Employment Group Seminar - "New Tax Law Changes Affecting Employee Benefits"
• 1997-1998 COBRA Compliance, Toledo Ohio Employers Association

• The Ins and Outs of the Income Tax Deadline Extension—Which Returns, Deadlines Are Affected, and Which Aren’t?

  By Amy Christen |April 2021

• How Does The American Rescue Plan Affect Welfare Benefit Plans?

  By Amy Christen |March 2021

• The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021: Congress Adds a Few Tax Surprises to Its Rescue Package

  By Amy Christen |March 2021