Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits

Changes in tax laws, a competitive job market and the increasing impact of technology on the workforce all contribute to an environment of uncertainty around executive compensation and employee benefits models, not just for employers but for all stakeholders across market sectors and industries.

Loeb & Loeb’s Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits team provides clients with sophisticated, business-focused advice on structuring, implementing, administering and terminating executive compensation arrangements and employee pension and benefit plans.

Our lawyers work with a full range of participants — public, private and closely held companies; plan sponsors and fiduciaries; investors, banks and other lenders; insurance companies; business associations; nonprofit institutions; and individuals — helping them understand the legal, business and financial scope and limitations of tax-qualified plans and nonqualified retirement and deferred compensation plans, as well as welfare benefit plans and programs. Clients across a range of sectors — from restaurant and hospitality to agricultural cooperatives, from private equity and financial services to entertainment — come to Loeb for our nearly unparalleled combination of legal acumen, industry knowledge and market-leading experience in executive compensation and employee benefits.

We counsel compensation committees on director responsibilities, charters and oversight of executive compensation, and advise on compensation and benefit issues in mergers, acquisitions, strategic combinations and other corporate events.

Collaborating with practitioners from across the firm, we help clients understand and address the tax, ERISA, labor, securities, bankruptcy and estate planning issues relating to nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements and supplemental retirement plans.

Loeb guides companies, management teams and compensation committees, and senior executives in employment negotiations, executive engagements and terminations, and severance arrangements. Our lawyers provide practical solutions that address the distinct complexities and sensitivities of even the most complicated compensation structures, with a focus on resolving problems, reaching consensus and preventing disputes.

We advise on all kinds of executive compensation, including:

Short- and long-term incentive compensation for senior executives and employees
Deferred compensation arrangements, in particular the funding of nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements through rabbi trusts and corporate-owned life insurance products
Equity and equity-based plans, including carried interest, restricted stock, stock appreciation rights, profits interests, stock options and phantom equity and phantom stock arrangements
Repricing, assumption, liquidation and other adjustments
Severance packages, postemployment entitlement to bonuses, golden parachutes and other compensation
Restrictive covenants, including noncompetition, nonsolicitation, non-disparagement, protection of trade secrets and confidential information, and interference with business relations
Internal Revenue Code Section 409A (rules applicable to nonqualified deferred compensation), including administrative compliance and corrections.

Our team works with employers on every aspect of their employee benefit plans, from design, documentation and implementation of all types of plans to compliance with complex Department of Labor and IRS reporting and disclosure requirements. We advise on funding, liability and withdrawal liability issues under both individual employer plans and union-sponsored multiemployer plans.

Clients look to Loeb for our knowledge and experience with sophisticated funding mechanisms, including individual and master trusts, rabbi trusts, secular trusts, voluntary employee beneficiary association (VEBA) plans and insurance-based arrangements. We help clients realize significant cash flow through the use of “early retirement window” plans, the reallocation of surplus pension plan assets, the reduction or termination of retiree welfare plans, and the creative use of insurance-based products.