Press Release

Roberta Casper Watson Designated 'Lawyer of the Year' in 2026 Edition of the Best Lawyers in America©

Issued by The Wagner Law Group P.C.

Aug. 25, 2025

We are delighted to share that Roberta Casper Watson has been designated as ERISA “Lawyer of the Year” in Tampa, FL, in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©. Roberta is truly one of the country’s top ERISA and employee benefits lawyers and we wish her congratulations on this extremely well-deserved distinction.

The “Lawyer of the Year” designation, presented by The Best Lawyers in America©, is awarded to individual lawyers with the highest overall peer feedback for a specific practice area and geographic region. The selection process is based on a comprehensive peer-review survey in which leading lawyers confidentially assess the professional abilities of their peers. It is a highly selective award, for which only one lawyer is recognized for each specific specialty and location. The “Lawyer of the Year” designation reflects the high level of respect the designated lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and practice areas for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.

Roberta is the leader of the firm's health and welfare practice group. She practices in the areas of ERISA and employee benefits, with a focus on pension and profit-sharing plans and employee stock ownership plans, as well as health and welfare benefits, including COBRA, HIPAA, and the Affordable Care Act. Roberta also concentrates on matters involving ERISA fiduciary decision making. 

Within the employee benefits field, Roberta's extensive experience goes beyond ERISA and impacts other areas of law. She is skilled in determining how employee benefits affect family law and labor law, including the American Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. As a result, she advises on related legal provisions that must be integrated into benefit plans, as well as other steps needed to comply with these rules and to satisfy government reporting and participant disclosure requirements.  Additionally, Roberta spearheads litigation when fiduciary breaches occur in employee benefit plans.

Roberta is an active member and a past chair of the American Bar Association Tax Section's Employee Benefits Committee, the ABA's Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (JCEB), the ABA Health Law Section's Employee Benefits Interest Group, the Harvard Club, and the Florida West Coast Employee Benefits Council. She is a member of the Tampa Bay Pension Council and a charter member of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel.

The Wagner Law Group

The Wagner Law Group is a nationally recognized practice in the areas of ERISA, employee benefits and executive compensation, which includes the distinct areas of Fiduciary Compliance, Retirement Plans, ESOPs, Executive Compensation & Nonqualified Plans, Welfare Benefit Plans, PBGC, Taft-Hartley Trusts and Retiree Medical Trusts™. The firm’s practice areas also include Employment, Labor & Human Resources, Investment Management, Bankruptcy and Restructuring, HIPAA, Privacy & Security, Expert Witness, Mergers & Acquisitions, Legislative, Regulatory & Policy Services, Tax Exempt Organizations, Litigation, Independent Fiduciary Services, Trusts & Estates, Probate and Family Law, Real Estate Law, Cybersecurity Law and Ethics Resources.

The Wagner Law Group continues to be dedicated to the highest standards of integrity, excellence and thought leadership, and is considered to be the nation’s preeminent ERISA and employee benefits law firm. Now with 47 attorneys in nine offices, it provides unparalleled legal advice to its clients, including large, small and nonprofit corporations as well as individuals and government entities nationwide and in several foreign countries. The firm’s attorneys combine decades of experience in their fields of practice and include those who are AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and have been annually named to prestigious Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers® and Chambers USA lists. The Wagner Law Group is recognized by U.S. News and World Report as a Tier 1 National Best Law Firm in the areas of ERISA and employee benefits, is ranked in the latest edition of Chambers USA, and has the largest number nationwide of Fellows of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, an invitation-only organization of nationally recognized employee benefits lawyers. It is certified as a woman-owned and operated business by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council and is listed among the largest woman-owned businesses in Massachusetts by the Boston Business Journal.

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