W. Walden (Wally) Lloyd

W. Waldan (Wally) Lloyd died in 2026 at age 80 after a 51-year career that earned him a place among the nation’s premier attorneys specializing in matters under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”). He was inducted as a Charter Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel (the “College”) in 2000.

Wally attended Johns Hopkins University from 1964-1965. He received a B.A. undergraduate degree majoring in German literature (with a minor in music) from University of Utah in 1971. This jazz saxophonist earned his law degree from the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law in Salt Lake City, UT in 1974.

Wally’s career in ERISA law was spent with firms located in Salt Lake City, concluding at Dentons Durham Jones Pinegar as the head of the ERISA practice at that Dentons-affiliated office.

Wally was one of the last of that increasingly rare breed, the ERISA generalist, the attorney who performed expertly within all of the specialties under ERISA’s umbrella: retirement plans, welfare arrangements, executive and incentive compensation plans, and fiduciary matters. He represented clients in planning, administrative disputes, audits and examinations, business transactions and negotiations, and ERISA litigation, and he developed a particular affinity for Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“ESOP”)-related transactions later in his career. His reputation, skills, and judgment were such that he had the honor over time of representing members of the College in the exercise of their individual professional responsibilities.

Among the many ways in which Wally gave back to the ERISA community, he was particularly adept at innovative leadership and at teaching. Wally rose to hold leadership positions in the American Bar Association (“ABA”) Tax Section’s massive Employee Benefits Committee for years, in the Western Pension and Benefits Conference (including as its President), and in others. Most telling was his early and effective role advocating to reshape the Internal Revenue Service’s approach to overseeing ERISA plans. As a charter member of the earliest Employee Plans/Executive Organizations (“EP/EO”) Council for the IRS Dallas Key District, the sole representative on that council from Utah for six years and its second chair for two years (plus as chair in the successor Tax-Exempt and Government Entities (“TE/GE”) Council from the Central Mountain Area and the Pacific Coast Area), he played an important role in the IRS’s redoing its approach to ERISA plans from a focus on collections to a focus on compliance, a change that eventually resulted in the creation of an entirely new branch within the IRS, the TE/GE Division.

As a teacher, Wally was an eagerly sought-after lecturer on ERISA-related matters. He spoke repeatedly at programs sponsored by the ABA Taxation Section, the American Law Institute-American Bar Association (“ALI-ABA”), American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (“ASPPA”), the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, the National Business Institute, the Southwest Benefits Conference, the Western Benefits Conference, and others. He taught ERISA experts at in-person seminars, teleconferences, webinars, and video programs, evolving along with the newest presentation styles. Among his more intriguing students were members of the IRS’s TE/GE Division and pension lawyers brought together by the Pension Rights Center. Compelling about those two groups were they each included individuals who at one time or another could be opposite Wally professionally, yet each group repeatedly enjoyed him and invited him to teach them more.

Tall, athletic, and gregarious, Wally had an easy smile, a penetrating mind, and an attitude and demeanor that understated his years. College Fellow and friend David Cowart recalled that Wally possessed a naturally smooth way of interacting with his clients, friends, and opponents and had a determined spirit. He noted that Wally, an experienced helicopter skier, moved only in one direction in life. Once, on a remote Canadian peak, the snow lying yards ahead of Wally’s skis gave away downhill in a massive avalanche. Wally skied up to the lip where the avalanche began, dropped down six feet to the remaining snowpack, and continued straight down the mountain.

A highly skilled lawyer, Wally also was a valued friend and ally to many in the profession. He was indispensable to the progress made applying and expanding ERISA for over a half century.


Photo Source: The Decade Book, American College of Employee Benefits Counsel 2000-2010