Dinsmore & Shohl LLP is pleased to welcome partner Helana Darrow, who will practice with the Tax, Benefits & Wealth Planning group in the firm’s Corporate department.

Darrow has extensive experience in employee benefits and executive compensation, including counseling clients on 401(k) and other retirement plans, deferred compensation, HIPAA, COBRA and ERISA compliance.

This area of specialty is particularly pertinent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses are grappling with the particulars of benefits as employees work remotely or as they restructure what they can offer in times of economic hardship.

“I actually find this area of law thrilling,” Darrow said. “The law is updated every year, and it’s my job to understand all of those changes and counsel my clients accordingly. Especially over the last year, clients call me for guidance on how to handle employee benefits during COVID.”

This is a homecoming for Darrow, who began her career with Dinsmore out of law school in the late 1990s, and stayed with the firm until 2012. She returns to Dinsmore after eight years with two other firms.

In Darrow’s time away from Dinsmore, the firm has grown substantially, having added offices in 18 cities across the country, including three in Indiana earlier this month.

“Although the firm has grown coast to coast, it still has the same collegial atmosphere that I remember and enjoyed for almost 15 years,” Darrow said. “The culture is unique for this industry, especially when you grow so drastically.”

Darrow earned her J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1998 after her B.A. from Morehead State University.