Kennerly, Montgomery & Finley P.C.

Ashley N. Trotto, Esq.
Shareholder

Affordable Care Act (ACA) Compliance; Employee Benefits, Pension, and ERISA Law

Ashley N. Trotto focuses her practice on every employer’s favorite topic: Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliance, including employer reporting, employer mandate requirements, and employer shared responsibility payment assessment. Beyond the ACA, Ashley works hard to ensure that employer health and welfare plans are properly administered. If an error has already occurred, she has the expertise to develop and implement a solution.

Employee Benefits, Pension, and ERISA Law

As a member of the Firms’ Employee Benefits, Pension, and ERISA Law group, Ashley works diligently to condense and simplify the complicated and ultra-technical world of employee benefits into understandable, plain English advice for her clients. Ashley uses this straightforward approach to assist private, governmental, and nonprofit employers in the design, implementation, and maintenance of their employee benefit plans.

Ashley was recognized by Best Lawyers in 2025 in the practice area of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law in 2025. This follows her being recognized in the inaugural Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for 2021, as well as in 2022-2024 in the practice area of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law. She was also recognized as One to Watch for Health Care Law and Labor and Employment Law - Management for 2022-2024.

Cityview Magazine has recognized Ashley as a Top Attorney of Knoxville in the practice area of Employee Benefits/ERISA - Defense in 2017-2018 and 2020-2024, with Ashley receiving the Golden Gavel in 2021 and 2024. She was also recognized in the practice areas of Banking Law (2023), Business/Commercial Law (2023), Corporate Law (2021-2024), Real Estate Finance & Development (2021-2022), Health Care Law (2022-2024), and Labor & Employment Law-Employer (2023).

Employment Law

Ashley is dedicated to building long-standing, trusted relationships with her clients and understands that a single point of contact for timely resolution of employment-related issues is key. To that end, Ashley also spends a significant amount of her time helping clients navigate the prickly, and often unforgiving, landscape of the FLSA, HIPAA, COBRA, FMLA, ADA, and other employment-related legislation as well as everyday employment issues, like creation and application of employer policies and employee training. If you’d like to know more about Ashley’s take on her niche practice, click here.

As a testament to her conversational, streamlined style, Ashley often describes her Employment Law practice with the following statement: “If you have an issue that affects your Human Resources department, I’m your girl.”

Ashley is a member of East Tennessee Compensation and Benefits Association (ETCBA), Tennessee Valley Human Resources Association (TVHRA), and Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM).

Other Practice Areas

Ashley Trotto specializes in assisting lenders and borrowers in Interest Rate Reductions (“IRRs”), Full and Modified Transfers of Physical Assets (“TPAs”), Housing Assistance Program (“HAP”) Assignments, and Changes of Ownerships (“CHOPs” and “CHOWs”) on FHA-insured projects from the D4, 232, A7, and 227f line of programs.

Ashley also practices for select clients in the areas of Business and Corporate Law, Local Government and Public Utilities, and Churches, Nonprofit, and Tax-Exempt Organizations.

About Ashley

Ashley was admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 2013. She is also a member of the Knoxville Bar Association (KBA) and American Bar Association (ABA).

In addition to her legal work, Ashley is the energy behind "Christenberry Kids," the Firm's book project which has been regularly providing age-appropriate books to the under-privileged kindergarten students at Christenberry Elementary School since 2013.

Ashley serves as Secretary of the Board of Directors for the Smoky Mountain Animal Care Foundation. She also serves on the Health and Basic Needs Investment Committee for the United Way of Greater Knoxville.

Education

Ashley graduated cum laude from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2013. Prior to attending law school, Ashley earned a Bachelor of Science degree, summa cum laude, in 2009 from the University of Tennessee where she majored in psychology.

Publications

Magazines

Newsletter Contributions and Articles

Reach out to Ashley Today!

Phone: (865) 546-7311

Fax: 865-524-1773

Or message them directly below:

Ashley N. Trotto (Direct Form)

    Speaking Engagements

    • ETCBA Presentation (June 2nd, 2020): The SECURE Act, The FFCRA, and the CARES Act
    • ETCBA Presentation (May 10th, 2019): Fair Labor Standards Act: 101
    • ETCBA Presentation (June 8th, 2018): New Administration, New Rules? - An Employee Benefit Law Update
    • Tennessee School Boards Association presentation Application of the Affordable Care Act’s Employer Mandate to Tennessee Schools, March 18, 2016.
    • Knoxville Bar Association presentation Keeping Up with Healthcare Reform, April 2015.
    • Tennessee Bar Association webinar Employer Mandate 101: Affordable Care Act, March 2015.
    • Knoxville Bar Association presentation Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Employers, June 2014.
    • National Thompson Reuters sponsored webinar The Nuts and Bolts of Obamacare: What Every Lawyer Needs to Know, January 2014
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