Barry K. Downey

Barry K. Downey is an attorney who focuses on employee benefits and executive compensation law. He advises employers and benefit plan service providers on designing and maintaining compensation and retirement programs. His clients include government entities, churches, and church-related organizations, as well as financial institutions, consultants, and investment advisers. His work covers pension plans, defined contribution retirement plans, deferred compensation arrangements, and welfare benefit programs.

Barry earned a Bachelor of Science, cum laude, from the University of Maryland. He later received his Juris Doctor, with Honors, from the University of Maryland School of Law. He is admitted to practice in Maryland and before the United States Supreme Court. His professional involvement includes service as former chair of the Maryland State Bar Association’s Tax Section Committee on Employee Benefits.

Barry represents clients during Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor audits and inquiries, including negotiations with these agencies. He also advises on retirement and welfare programs that are exempt from the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, known as ERISA. His experience includes both tax-qualified and non-tax-qualified arrangements. For employee benefit service providers, he addresses compliance issues connected to their client services and assists with developing and implementing prototype retirement plan products. These matters draw on his experience designing, drafting, and reviewing benefit and compensation programs.

Barry K. Downey has held an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell since 1995 and has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law since 2010. He is also ranked in Chambers. He speaks at educational programs across the United States and internationally, providing training to plan fiduciaries, compensation service providers, and employers with complex benefit programs. He is a co-author of the Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Answer Book and contributes to professional education on the legal requirements that govern employee benefits and executive compensation.

Law Office Affiliations

• Partner, Smith & Downey, P.A.
• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, Maryland State Bar Association

Licensed State

• Maryland

Education

• University of Maryland School of Law
  Juris Doctor (JD)
• University of Maryland
  Bachelor of Science (BS)

Awards & Badges