Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation

Our Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice provides comprehensive services in planning, designing and implementing employee benefits and executive compensation programs for organizations of all sizes and structures.  Combined, our attorneys have more than 200 years of benefits experience including at the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

One of the most important components of our Practice’s overall philosophy is our ability to resolve legal issues that do not have well-defined answers in an efficient and pragmatic manner.  We are leaders in a changing industry, and our focus is on creative, practical solutions to problems. 

Qualified Plans

Our attorneys provide counseling regarding design, implementation and administration of tax-qualified plans including 401(k), money purchase, profit sharing, ESOP and cash balance plans. 

Welfare Plans

We are recognized leaders in the design and administration of welfare plans and trusts and the negotiation of agreements with service providers. We understand the employer liability issues associated with managed care and retiree medical obligations as well as the means that employers can use to avoid or limit such liability.   We regularly counsel employers on COBRA, HIPAA, Medicare Part D and the termination of retiree medical plans. 

Executive Compensation

For clients ranging from privately held companies to large publicly held companies, we plan, negotiate and prepare multiple compensatory arrangements between employers and their key employees, including employment contracts, restrictive covenants (such as non-compete, non-solicitation and non-disclosure provisions), change in control agreements, incentive compensation and bonus programs, compensation deferral arrangements, funding mechanisms, stock option plans and grant agreements, restricted stock plans and award agreements and other equity-based compensation arrangements.

Fiduciary/Investment Management

We represent both plan fiduciaries who are purchasing investment services and financial institutions in the structuring and offering of investment products in the retirement plan market, including ERISA plan governance reviews, negotiation of investment management agreements, trust agreements, commingled investment funds and in stable value, real estate, private equity, derivatives, alternatives and other investment products. 

ERISA Litigation

Combining the skills of seasoned litigators with the hands-on knowledge of lawyers who regularly counsel plan sponsors and fiduciaries on the impact of the developing case law, Katten offers experienced representation in ERISA litigation. Attorneys from our Litigation and Employee Benefits practices work together to represent clients in federal district court, the United States Tax Court, arbitrations and mediations, and pre-litigation negotiations with the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor. As a result of the frequent overlap between ERISA and other substantive areas of the law, we are able to apply the Firm’s experience in employment, tax, health care, insurance and securities litigation in a cost-effective litigation strategy focused on successful outcomes. Our attorneys also have acted as expert witnesses in several ERISA cases.