We host a monthly webinar series on executive compensation. At this upcoming Thursday's webinar (held at 10:00 am Central on March 9, 2023), we are covering compensation designs and market practices associated with compensating key employees of a start-up corporation. Topics discussed include: (i) how to share in the dream without cash outlay, (ii) ideas on timing taxation with cash liquidity, (iii) employment-related considerations, and (iv) tax efficiency considerations. You can sign up HERE. Part 1 of 2 focused on "Founder" compensation designs and that slide deck can be ...

As a follow-up to my post entitled "Thoughts When Linking Public Company Executive Pay to D&I Initiatives,"  I think it is important to share, at least at a high level, the legal framework for diversity, equity and inclusion programs (i.e., it is important to successfully navigate employment laws prior to the Board taking action so that the employer can avoid legal foot faults while trying to do the right thing).  One of my partners, Emily Burkhardt Vicente (co-chair of our Labor & Employment Practice), did just that when she authored an article for Banking Exchange entitled "Enhancing ...

This Post will begin a series of blog entries focused on the topic of linking executive pay to a publicly-traded issuer's diversity and inclusion ("D&I") initiatives.  As background, there has been a recent push to hold executives accountable for the effectiveness of an issuer's D&I initiatives by linking their executive pay to the success of such initiatives.  Pretty straight forward (i.e., the success of the D&I initiative becomes one of the metrics in the issuer's performance-based compensation strategy).

On Wednesday, September 30, 2020, we will be hosting a webinar entitled "The SEC's New Human Capital Rule, Workplace Diversity and Compensation Design: Year-End Disclosures and the Board Agenda 2020".  The purpose of this webinar is to cover the SEC's new Human Capital rule and how such disclosure will interplay and impact any diversity and inclusion ("D&I") initiatives of the issuer.  In particular, the speakers will share thoughts on how top down D&I initiatives could be structured from a compensatory perspective (i.e., top down meaning D&I initiatives are incorporated into ...

On July 22, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted final rules and supplemented interpretative guidance that modify the proxy rules as applied to proxy advisory firms and clarify the fiduciary duties of investment advisers when voting proxies.  One of our rising stars (Chelsea Lomprey) did the heavy lifting in drafting a client alert on the subject, and such can be found HERE.

We host a monthly webinar series with the intent of teaching a narrow topic deep (as opposed to covering the surface of a wide topic).  Our webinar for the month of July will be held this Thursday (July 9, 2020) at 10:00 Central and is entitled "Public Companies and ESOPs: Check Yes or No" [Sign Up Here].

The purpose of this Post is to highlight some of the administrative issues that should be vetted any time the Compensation Committee of a publicly-traded company effectuates a grant of equity to key employees.  The below list is not exclusive and is listed in no particular order:

Share Counting Provisions

• Verify the Equity Plan's Share Reserve Not Exceeded.  With respect to the upcoming grants, the Company will need to verify that the equity plan's share reserve will not be exceeded.  This has two parts.  First, to the extent the equity plan has liberal share counting, the Company will need ...

Designing effective compensation strategies within a partnership structure (or an LLC taxed as a partnership) can be a complex endeavor, and finding education on the topic is virtually non-existent.  To that end, we are providing a FREE webinar entitled "Compensation Design Issues within a Partnership/LLC Structure" (day and time set forth below).  The purpose of this program is to share practical ideas for incentivizing and retaining executives within a partnership or LLC structure, including discussing design points on the topic of:

• grants of capital interests, profits ...

The purpose of this Post is to highlight the question of whether, in today's economic environment, deferred compensation monies should be secured with a secular trust.  This Post is Part 7 of a 7-Part series addressing compensation adjustments that Compensation Committees could consider in order to continue to incent and retain their executive officers in today’s economy.

Background

It is well-settled that the assets of non-qualified deferred compensation programs are subject to the claims of the company’s general creditors.  Securing the assets with a Rabbi Trust does nothing to change that answer.

With today's market volatility and many companies struggling to survive, some executives may not value deferred dollars because of the fear that these deferred dollars will be swept by the company's creditors.  And if the executives do not value the program, then the program is not providing the necessary incentive and retention benefits.  So does it make sense to consider a different vehicle or approach?

Just a quick note that our upcoming monthly webinar is entitled "Administrative Perspectives on Granting Compensatory Equity Awards: A Checklist of Action Items," and will be held this Thursday, May 14, 2020, from 10:00 am to 11:00 am Central.  The purpose of this webinar is to provide a checklist of design and administrative considerations associated with grants of compensatory equity awards, and will be discussed at an intermediate level.  You can register at the above link.