Kristy L Buckley

Kristy Buckley is a Partner in the Bozeman Commercial Department primarily practicing in the Employee Benefits, ERISA & Executive Compensation Practice Group . Her practice focuses on employee benefits law by providing advice regarding retirement plans and health and welfare plans. She uses her retirement plan knowledge to assist employers with tax and succession planning and her health and welfare knowledge to assist employers with Health Care Reform compliance.

Kristy advises clients about laws that impact self-funded health insurance plans, welfare benefit plans, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, profit sharing plans, ESOPs, cafeteria plans, health reimbursement arrangements, supplemental executive retirement plans, and executive bonus plans. She provides plan design and compliance assistance under the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, and the state Insurance Code. When plan errors arise, she navigates through corrective programs under the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor to avoid audits. She also provides advice regarding plan reporting (e.g., Form 5500, Form M-1, Montana MEWA Annual Statement, Medicare Part D, and Form 5310-A) and compliance with plan disclosure requirements (e.g., Summary Plan Descriptions, Summary of Material Modifications, QDIA Notices, Safe Harbor Notices, and Summary Annual Reports).

While in law school, Kristy served as an Articles and Comments Editor of the University of Miami Business Law Review and Executive Editor of the Tax Law Chronicle. She received her Master of Law in Taxation from the University of Miami School of Law and graduated at the top of her class. She was a two-time academic merit scholar for her LL.M. of Taxation program. Kristy passed the CPA Exam in 2002 and had experience as an accountant before entering law school.