Ilene is the Managing Partner of Ferenczy Benefits Law Center, an employee benefits law firm in Atlanta, GA. She advises clients on all types of employee benefit plans, particularly focusing her practice on qualified retirement plans, benefits issues in mergers and acquisitions, and advising service providers to employee benefit programs on technical and practice issues. Having become an attorney after more than ten years as a third-party administrator, she brings a unique and practical approach to her advice. Ilene is a member of the State Bars of Georgia and California, and holds designations as an Accredited Pension Administrator from the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA), and a Certified Pension Consultant from the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA). She is the 2017 recipient of NIPA’s Excellence in Education Award and the 2007 recipient of ASPPA’s Educator of the Year Award.

Ilene is a nationally known thought leader on benefits issues, and has authored more than 100 articles for publications such as the Journal of Pension Benefits (where she is the Co-Editor-in-Chief), The 401(k) Advisor, and The ASPPA Journal (now The Plan Consultant). Her book, Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions, an Aspen publication that is updated annually, has been in print for more than 20 years. Ilene is the author of the Qualified Plans module of ERISApedia.com, co-author of ERISApedia’s The Plan Correction eSource, and was a prior author or co-author of The Plan Termination Answer Book and ERISA: A Comprehensive Guide. Ilene is a frequent live presenter and also has recorded numerous webcasts and other e-learning tools for several organizations. She is a past adjunct professor in the College of Law at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, and was on the Employee Benefits Advisory Board of the John Marshall Law School Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits in Chicago, Illinois.

In addition to being a former president of NIPA, where she is still on the Board of Directors, Ilene is a former member of ASPPA’s Leadership Council and a former co-chair of ASPPA’s Government Affairs Committee. She is an ardent advocate to the Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service on behalf of plans and their sponsors. Ilene is also a Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, the highest honor awarded to ERISA lawyers. Her extensive benefits experience and national reputation have qualified her to give testimony as an expert witness in ERISA litigation.