LAUREN GALLAGHER counsels and advises clients in connection with all types of employee benefits and executive compensation matters, with a focus on helping clients recruit, retain, and incentive key talent. She plays a crucial role in addressing employee benefits and executive compensation issues in connection with corporate transactions (including mergers and acquisitions, stock and asset purchase transactions, joint ventures, spin-offs, and corporate restructurings), and works to ensure that these aspects of the transaction are seamlessly integrated, mitigating risks, and ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Her practice includes:
- The design and administration of equity, equity-based, and other incentive compensation plans, such as stock option, restricted stock, restricted stock unit, phantom stock and profits interest plans, and the treatment of these plans in corporate acquisitions and dispositions;
- The negotiation of executive employment, retention, and separation agreements;
- Designing and administering supplemental pension, deferred compensation, and other benefit plans for executives; and
- Tax and other regulatory issues relating to employee benefits and executive compensation (e.g., Internal Revenue Code Sections 280G and 409A).
Lauren’s practice also includes counseling clients with respect to the design and administration of qualified retirement and health and welfare plans including drafting plan documents, participant disclosures, government filings and filings under corrective programs, advising on the structure of multiple plans within the controlled group and compliance with related nondiscrimination requirements, and advising on matters related to compliance with the Affordable Care Act.