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Overview
Marla Aspinwall concentrates her practice in the tax, ERISA, labor and securities aspects of executive compensation for publicly held, private and tax-exempt organizations, including employment agreements; nonqualified deferred compensation; and equity, retirement, incentive and welfare benefit plans. Marla has extensive knowledge of insurance-funded executive benefits and estate planning arrangements. She also specializes in the tax and business aspects of agricultural cooperative organizations and has represented many large agricultural cooperatives.
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Compensation and Benefits Planning for Non-Profit Organizations, Society of Financial Service Professionals
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Planning Opportunities Created by New Public Company Compensation Limitations, Annual Meeting of Association of Advanced Life Underwriters
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Nonqualified Deferred Compensation, Traps and Updates, 2017 AICPA National Tax Conference
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Recent Developments in the Area of Non-qualified Deferred Compensation, 2017 USC Tax Institute
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Mess Ups and Clean Ups in Deferred Compensation and Benefits, 2015 USC Tax Institute
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Characterization Issues Arising in Business Transactions: Beyond the Sales Price, CalCPA 2014 Family Law Conference
Education
- University of Southern California, Gould School of Law, J.D., Order of the Coif, Southern California Law Review
- University of Utah, B.A., Honors English, summa cum laude
Bar Admissions
- California
Recognition
- Named in Chambers USA, America's Leading Lawyers for Business, in California: Los Angeles & Surrounds: Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation (2021-2024)
- Named "Lawyer of the Year" in Tax Law for Los Angeles by The Best Lawyers in America (2025)
- Named in The Legal 500 US in Domestic Tax, published by Legalease Limited and John Pritchard (2018)
- Named "Best Lawyer" in Tax law (2013-2025) and Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law (2025), and recognized among "Women of Influence" (2015-2017) by The Best Lawyers in America, published by Woodward White, Inc.
Affiliations
- American College of Employee Benefits Counsel
- American Bar Association, Employee Benefit Committee
- California Bar Association, Employee Benefit Committee of Tax Section
- Los Angeles County Bar Association, Employee Benefits Committee of Tax Section
- Association of Advanced Life Underwriters (AALU), Retirement Plans Committee
- National Counsel of Farmer Cooperatives, Legal, Tax and Accounting Committee, Co-Chair of Employment and Benefits