Overview

Dana specializes in ERISA, regularly advising employers, trustees and service providers concerning qualified retirement plans, non-qualified plans, fringe benefits, welfare benefits and executive compensation issues. She has developed significant expertise in the ERISA/employee benefits practice area, representing a large and diverse client base. She regularly advises clients regarding planning and evaluating benefit programs, establishing and administering employee benefit plans, monitoring compliance with applicable laws, resolving compliance issues, corporate restructuring and severance issues, employee stock ownership and incentive programs, and plan issues in mergers and acquisitions.

Dana is actively involved in professional organizations and speaks at educational conferences on various employee benefit plan topics. She has successfully resolved issues for clients with the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor, and Pension and Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

Before joining Constangy, Dana was an attorney with the law firm of Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C.

Honors & Recognitions

  • Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Employee Benefits - ERISA Law (1995-2022, 2024-2025)
  • Chambers USA Guide®
  • Mid-South Super Lawyers® (2008-2017)

  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® Peer Rated for Highest Level of Professional Excellence   

Professional & Civic Associations

  • Alabama State Bar Association
  • District of Columbia Bar Association
  • Profit Sharing Council of Alabama
  • Birmingham Bar Association
  • Southern Employee Benefits Council
  • Glenwood, Inc. - Board of Directors and Human Resources Committee for Mental Health Association
  • Oak Mountain Youth Football and Cheerleading Volunteer

About Me

Dana enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time with her family, including her three daughters and one son.

News & Analysis

Client Presentations & Firm Publications

Speaking Engagements & Industry Publications

  • “Clients value a lawyer's ability to understand not just the question presented but the true issues of significance and implications of all available options. To be an effective advisor and to successfully and efficiently assist clients, I strive to fully understand all the facts involved and to present all possibilities to the client to help the client choose the most effective strategy. As Thomas J. Watson, former president of IBM, stated, ‘The ability to ask the right question is more than half the battle of finding the answer.’”
  • Dana Thrasher, Employee Benefits Lawyer

Practice Emphasis

  • Employee Benefits/ERISA
  • Executive Compensation

Education

Cumberland School of Law of Samford University

  • J.D., summa cum laude, 1989
  • Editor - Cumberland Law Review; Curia Honoris; Cordell Hull Fellow

University of North Alabama

  • B.S.W., summa cum laude, 1986
  • Keller Key for Highest Academic Average in Graduating Class; Phi Alpha Delta Honorary

Bar & Court Admissions

  • Alabama, 1989
  • District of Columbia, 1991
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