Overview
Mayer Brown has a comprehensive ERISA, employee benefits, and executive compensation practice comprising 17 lawyers. As part of that practice, we serve as legal counsel to many clients, including several Fortune 500 companies, as well as churches, universities, hospitals, and other tax-exempt employers, and also serve as special counsel in a variety of transactions.

Employee Benefit Plans. The firm's comprehensive employee benefits practice includes designing, drafting, and rendering advice on the administration of employee benefit plans and advising employers, fiduciaries, and service providers on the application of ERISA, ADEA, income and estate tax laws, state and federal securities laws, and state corporate laws to employee benefit plans. The firm represents clients with respect to all aspects of the establishment, operation, and financing of ESOPs. In connection with the firm's substantial commercial transaction practice, we advise clients on the impact of employee benefit matters on corporate transactions, including changes in corporate control, lending transactions, and bankruptcy proceedings.

Our London Employee Share Incentives team deals with all aspects of employee share incentives in the UK, including the implementation of US-based plans in the UK. See the London Employee Share Incentives Group page for further details.

Executive Compensation. The firm represents both executives and employers with respect to all aspects of compensation of executives and directors, including negotiating and drafting employment, consulting, severance, and golden parachute agreements, as well as deferred compensation, split dollar, and stock-based incentive compensation programs.

Pension Plan Investments. Members of the ERISA department participate in an interdepartmental group of over 40 lawyers who regularly provide advice to plan sponsors, banks, insurance companies, and other investment managers with respect to the application of ERISA, tax, real estate, securities, commodities, international, and other applicable laws to a variety of investments involving the assets of pension plans and other tax-exempt entities and the structuring, management, and investment of pooled investment vehicles offered to such investors.

Our London pensions law team is widely regarded as one of the top two or three in Britain. The team acts for the trustees of pension plans of a large number of some of the UK's leading firms. In addition to day-to-day advice on the administration of pension plans, the team also advises clients involved in mergers and acquisitions on the transfer and merger of pensions plans. Recent work includes advising the trustees of the BAT pension plan on its merger with the Rothmans plan and the Kingfisher Trustees on the de-merger of plans as a result of the flotation of Woolworths Group. Other major clients include P&O, Abbey National, and Nestlé.

ERISA Litigation, Legislative, and Administrative Matters. The firm represents clients in a broad range of ERISA-related audits and litigation, including matters involving asserted breaches of fiduciary obligations, professional malpractice claims, ERISA preemption, multiemployer withdrawal liability, and benefit claims. The firm's appellate litigation lawyers regularly represent clients in ERISA cases pending before the US Supreme Court and numerous appellate courts. The firm also has an extensive legislative and administrative practice advising clients with respect to tax-, ERISA-, and benefits-related legislation, as well as Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service administrative rulings and exemptions. The firm's partners include a former Solicitor of Labor, a former Deputy and Acting Tax Legislative Counsel at the Department of the Treasury, and a former staff member of the Joint Committee on Taxation.