Now more than ever, companies face significant challenges in attracting and retaining employees. There is greater public scrutiny of compensation and benefits, and a push for greater transparency has vastly increased the complexity of regulations governing these matters. Federal officials routinely publish rule changes that consist of hundreds of pages.

In responding to all of this information, Cozen O’Connor attorneys train their attention on the one thing that matters most: our clients’ goals. We don’t waste time belaboring constraints or cataloging unlikely scenarios. We clear away distractions and focus on finding the most efficient legal path to our clients’ desired results.

Cozen O’Connor’s employee benefits and executive compensation lawyers advise companies, boards of directors, investment and compensation committees, management teams, and individual executives in a wide range of industries. On the employee benefits side, we provide guidance on the design and administration of retirement, health and welfare, and severance plans and counsel clients on the benefits implications of business transactions, and advise on fiduciary responsibilities, plan terminations, and withdrawals. On the executive compensation side, we negotiate sophisticated contracts that include proper protections and desirable incentives for both executives and employers.

Every organization needs compensation and benefits arrangements that comply with the law, limit liability, attract and retain top talent, and square with the company’s financial position. To strike the appropriate balance among those goals, benefits counsel must develop specific strategies to suit each client’s situation. But whether it’s a union-sponsored multiemployer pension plan or an executive contract, any well-crafted agreement must satisfy one criterion: it must operate as intended. A plan that does not function properly or has unanticipated consequences is a missed opportunity at best and a hotbed of litigation at worst. Cozen O’Connor attorneys make sure that promises made are promises delivered.

While many large-firm compensation and benefits attorneys specialize in narrow subfields, our attorneys are well-rounded general practitioners. They are fully versed in the details of each set of laws and maintain a broad perspective on the field as a whole. We believe this versatility is essential to providing the best advice to clients. Cozen O’Connor attorneys can identify how even small changes in one area could affect a company’s benefits and compensation position in other areas. Moreover, clients know that an attorney is closely overseeing their interests and understands all aspects of their benefits and compensation portfolio.

SERVICES

Employee Benefits

• Advise clients regarding qualified retirement plans, including defined benefit pension plans, defined contribution plans, 403(b) plans, 401(k) plans, cash balance plans, and ESOPs
• Counsel clients regarding nonqualified retirement plans, related funding arrangements, non-qualified deferred compensation, and tax considerations
• Provide advice regarding health and welfare benefit plans’ statutory requirements in order to protect clients from liability
• Counsel clients in their fiduciary duties under ERISA
• Advise clients on benefits issues arising from mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures
• Assist with plan terminations and de-risking, including the implications of plan underfunding or overfunding
• Counsel clients regarding multiemployer pension plans and withdrawal liability
• Represent clients in all aspects of ERISA litigation and in matters before the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

Executive Compensation

• Counsel clients about non-qualified deferred compensation strategies, including Section 409A requirements and other deferred compensation models
• Design and provide guidance on equity and equity-based incentive compensation programs
• Prepare employment contracts, retention agreements, and change-in-control agreements
• Negotiate executive compensation arrangements, including incentive plans, equity compensation, severance and change-in-control agreements, and performance metrics
• Help clients navigate the tax law implications of executive compensation

CLIENTS

• Public and private companies
• Boards of directors
• Investment committees
• Management teams
• Individual executives

TEAM

Our attorneys are renowned in the field of benefits and compensation law. The team includes a fellow of the prestigious American College of Employee Benefits Counsel. Several of our attorneys have professional experience as accountants and human resources consultants, which gives them valuable insights into the needs and challenges of their clients. Attorneys in the practice frequently lecture and publish on employee benefits, compensation, tax, and employment law.

Cozen O’Connor has a reputation for being entrepreneurial, which means, in part, that we constantly strive to deepen our relationships with our clients. We provide steadfast support to our clients in the midst of challenge, transition, and upheaval because we see client relationships as long-term investments. 

We see our cross-disciplinary support of colleagues within the firm as another investment. Effective collaboration is a hallmark of excellent client service. Therefore, members of the employee benefits and executive compensation group work closely with attorneys from our tax, labor and employment, mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy, health care, and public finance groups to provide comprehensive legal counsel.