Leslie M. Bassett, Esq.
For 20 years, Leslie has provided efficient, creative, energized, and personalized employment and ERISA representation to clients on all sides of employment and benefit matters. She has represented sponsors and fiduciaries of employee benefit plans in complex employee benefit and ERISA litigation matters in federal and state courts throughout the country, including litigation involving breaches of fiduciary duty and employer stock held in 401(k) plans. Leslie also counsels clients in connection with governmental investigations and other regulatory matters involving benefits issues and executive compensation agreements.
Leslie has helped countless clients navigate employment transitions with ease, providing empathetic, efficient employment strategies and solutions to executives, individuals, boards of directors, and human resources professionals. Leslie has a unique ability to evaluate a matter from a holistic perspective and to create and negotiate a workable solution for all involved. Perhaps equally importantly, she has counseled and resolved numerous disputes in early stages, preserving the goals of cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and discretion for her clients.
Leslie “balances” her legal career with her active single parenting of her two sons and their puppies. She can often be found watching her boys play baseball, walking puppies in the park, or cheerfully feeding and hydrating her sons and their twenty closest friends.
Leslie has maintained her commitment to giving back to the community by, among other things, representing children in the juvenile justice process and advocating for victims of child trafficking.
Education
- Emory University School of Law
- J.D. - 2003
- Honors: cum laude
- Wellesley College
- B.A. - 1998
- Honors: cum laude
- Majors: Philosophy & Government
Bar Admissions
- Georgia
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court Middle District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court Southern District of Georgia
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Published Works and Speaking Engagements
- Substance Abuse & Mental Health Issues in the Legal Profession, at I.C.L.E. Annual Employee Benefits Law Seminars, Atlanta (upcoming Sept. 18, 2020).
- ERISA Plan Investment Committee Governance: Mitigating Fiduciary Risk, at Stafford Webinars (Feb. 4, 2019; Feb. 5, 2018; Feb. 6, 2017; Feb. 8, 2016; Feb. 9, 2015).
- Mitigating Fiduciary Risk, at 45th Annual TIPS Mid-winter Symposium on Insurance & Employee Benefits (Jan. 12, 2018).
- ERISA Plan Committee Governance Best Practices, at PLANSPONSOR National Conference (Sept. 13, 2018).
- Recent Developments in Employee Benefits Governance, at Plan Sponsor of America's 2017 National Conference (May 18, 2018).
- The Risks For Private Equity In Companies With Underfunded Benefit Plans, with Ruskin, Kenneth A., published in Corporate Counsel Business Journal (Oct. 17, 2013).
- Multiemployer Pension Plan Withdrawal Liability, at I.C.L.E. Annual Employee Benefits Law Seminars, Atlanta (May 30, 2013).
Past Positions
- Alston + Bird ERISA Litigation Group, Associate
- The Bassett Law Firm, Founding Member
- King & Spalding ERISA Litigation Group, Senior Associate