Steven G. Eckhaus

Qualifications and Career Profile

Steven G. Eckhaus, Chair of the Executive Employment Practice, is a litigator, negotiator and advisor with over 30 years of experience in executive compensation, employment law, investment management, corporate and securities law, real estate, dispute resolution and counseling.

Mr. Eckhaus advises leaders of the financial services, real estate, pharmaceutical, biotech, publishing, entertainment and consumer industries on compensation and employment matters; negotiates their employment agreements; represents management teams in private equity transactions; advises compensation committees; counsels executives and employers on non-competition, confidentiality and trade secret agreements; and counsels management on the design of compensation plans.

In trials and appeals involving significant public policy issues, Mr. Eckhaus was responsible for expanding the scope of protections for U.S. workers employed by foreign corporations (Morelli v. Cedel, 141 F.3d 39 (2d Cir. 1998)), and establishing the legal basis for emerging family responsibilities protections (Matter of Trezza, 1998 U.S. Dist Lexis 20206 (S.D.N.Y.)).

Mr. Eckhaus served as an owner's representative on the supervisory boards of major and iconic New York City properties including the Empire State Building; negotiated the purchase of a NYC office building for $152 million; directed a $57 million §1031 “like kind” exchange deferring $26 million in taxes from the sale of a NYC hotel; and supervised a $21 million leasing transaction.

Recognition

In each of the past four years, Mr. Eckhaus has been recognized as a Super Lawyer in the field of Employment Law, and in May 2009 was named by Human Resource Executive as among the 100 Most Powerful Employment Lawyers in America and listed among the top 15 in New York. Mr. Eckhaus is a Contributing Expert to the World Justice Project in the area of Employment Law and is listed in its "Rule of Law Index 2011." He was recently named to Lawdragon's 2011 "Top 20 in Employee Benefits and ERISA" list.

Memberships and Associations

Mr. Eckhaus is on the Advisory Board of the University of California at Hastings Law School Center for WorkLife Law, the Cornell University Library Advisory Council and is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

Lectures and Articles

A sought-after speaker and author on the design of compensation plans, executive pay, employment agreements and statutory civil actions, Mr. Eckhaus’ recent speaking engagements, publications and media mentions include:

   Speaking Engagements

• "Cutting Edge Employment Law and Executive Pay Issues of Importance to CFOs," CFOs Conference, New York State Society of CPAs, New York City (June 17, 2010).
• "Getting Off the Canvas, Executive Compensation and Contracts Going Forward," The Links Club, New York City (May 13, 2010).
• "Where Are the Jobs and What Are the Economics?" RegentAtlantic Capital, LLC's Wall Street Women Forum (May 12, 2010).
• "Crisis Management for Hedge Funds and Managers: Planning for Survival or Reincarnation. Employment Management," Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, New York City (February 25, 2009).
• "Notice, Garden Leave and Restrictive Covenants,” Infovest, Cornell Club, New York City (July 15, 2008).
• "The Impact of Competitive Pay Models and Other Poorly Designed Incentive Compensation Plans on the Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis," Kingdee International Software Group, Guangdong Venture Capital Group, Ltd, Sun Yat Sen University, China (April 13, 2008).
• "Everything You Wanted to Know About Negotiating Employment Agreements But Were Afraid to Ask," Financial Women's Association, New York City (April 7, 2008).
• "It's Not Your Father's Incentive Compensation: Modern Elements of Executive Pay," American Association of Certified Public Accountants, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Las Vegas, Nevada (March 9, 2008).
• "The Design of Incentive Compensation Plans,” Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Guangzhou Venture Capital Association, South China University, Guangdong, China (July 12, 2007).
• "Incentive Compensation," Fudan University, Shanghai, China (July 10, 2007).
• "Negotiating the CEO's Employment Contract," Sanford Bernstein, New York City (February 14, 2007).

   Publications

• "Negotiating C-Level Employment Agreements after the Rescue," Recent Changes in Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Leading Lawyers on Counseling Clients, Understanding New Executive Compensation and Severance Practices, Aspatore Books' Inside the Minds Series (Thomson Reuters, 2010).

   Media Mentions

• Quoted in "Wall Street Annual Compensation Expected to Fall 15% to 30%," Los Angeles Times (December 3, 2011).
• Quoted in "Wonkbook: Is Europe finally at the endgame?" The Washington Post (November 28, 2011).
• Quoted in "Wall Street Unoccupied as 200,000 Job Cuts Bring ‘Darkest Days’," Bloomberg Businessweek (November 22, 2011).
• Quoted in "Wall Street's Shrinking Job Pool,"  CNN Money (November 15, 2011)
• Quoted in "Banks Spell Out Deep Cost Cuts," Wall Street Journal (November 2, 2011).
• Profiled in "Wall Street Lawyer: Don't Blame Pay," Wall Street Journal (February 5, 2011).
• Quoted in "NY Labor Department: Securities Brokerage Headcount Plunges in NYC, State," Dow Jones (November 18, 2010).
• Quoted in "Not Many Early Bonuses for Wall Street Banks: Experts," ABCnews.com (October 12, 2010).
• Quoted in "Wall Street Pay: A Record $144 Billion," The Wall Street Journal (October 11, 2010).
• Quoted in "Finance Jobs Fall in New York State," The Wall Street Journal (September 17, 2010).
• Quoted in "On Wall Street, a Jump on Bonuses," The Wall Street Journal (August 30, 2010).
• Quoted in "Traders Beat Wall Street CEOs in Pay," The Wall Street Journal (April 6, 2010).
• Quoted in "Where Are the Women on Wall Street?" The New York Times, DealBook, and AARP Bulletin Today (January 2010).
• Quoted in "Banks See Ways Past Pay Limits," The Wall Street Journal U.S. and European editions (January 2010).
• Quoted in "McCann Settles Lawsuit Against Bank of America," DealBook, Bloomberg News, and Reuters (October 1, 2009).
• Quoted in "Big Pay Packages Return to Wall Street," The Wall Street Journal (July 2, 2009).
• Quoted on the Impact of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act on Executive Pay, The Wall Street Journal (October 15, 2008).

Education and Bar/Court Admissions

A Rhodes Scholar nominee, Mr. Eckhaus earned his Bachelor of Science from Cornell University in 1972 and his Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School in 1976. He is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the District of New Jersey, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.