Kathleen Sheil Scheidt

Kathleen Sheil Scheidt advises for-profit and tax-exempt employers regarding a variety of matters related to ERISA and employee benefits, such as tax-qualified retirement plans, fiduciary duties, equity compensation alternatives, executive incentives, health and welfare benefits, and nonqualified plans.  She focuses her practice in particular on employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and compensation and benefit program design and compliance for tax-exempt organizations.  Ms. Scheidt also works with plan sponsors and companies on compensation and benefits issues that arise in the corporate transaction context.  She has prepared plan correction submissions, negotiated closing agreements with the Internal Revenue Service and assisted in responding to inquiries conducted by the Department of Labor and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

Ms. Scheidt is co-editor of International Employee Equity Plans: Participation Beyond Borders, published by the World Law Group, which addresses the legal ramifications of offering equity compensation plans in multiple countries.  Her publications also include "Special Considerations for Designing and Operating an ESOP” (BNA ERISA Compliance & Enforcement Strategy Guide), “Current Considerations and New Challenges for ERISA Section 404(c) Compliance” (BNA ERISA Compliance & Enforcement Strategy Guide), “Prudence and Diversification Revisited: ERISA Section 404(c) Protection in the Wake of Enron” (Employee Benefits Journal, 2003) and “What Every Employer Needs to Know About the HIPAA Privacy Rules” (Employee Benefit Plan Review, 2003), among others. During 2004 and 2005 she co-authored the monthly Regulatory Update column in Employee Benefit Plan Review.

Ms. Scheidt is a member of the ESOP Association (through which she is a member of the Administration Advisory Committee), the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, the Global Equity Organization and the American Bar Association. She was listed in Illinois Super Lawyers as a 2008 and 2009 Illinois Rising Star, and was named an “Up and Coming” lawyer in the 2010 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.

Ms. Scheidt obtained her law degree, with high distinction, from the University of Iowa College of Law, where she served as Managing Editor of The Journal of Corporation Law. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, graduating cum laude with dual degrees in American Studies and Spanish. She is admitted to practice in Illinois.