Proskauer Benefits Brief: Legal Insight on Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, David Teigman, partner in the Tax Department and a member of the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group, Josh Apfelroth, partner in the Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions Group and Nick LaSpina, senior counsel in the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group discuss shareholder activism in the public company context and more specifically within the framework of executive compensation. Because executive compensation can be a hot‑button topic for shareholders and can be implicated in a variety of activist situations, be sure to tune in for the latest insights into these matters.

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, David Teigman, partner in the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group, Simon Sharpe, partner and member of our Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions groups and Nick LaSpina, senior counsel in the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group discuss rep and warranty insurance (RWI) in the mergers and acquisitions context. They also focus on certain aspects of this insurance product as it relates to executive compensation and employee benefits matters. For the last 10 years, we have only seen the use of this insurance product proliferate, so be sure to tune in as these issues will continue to be highly relevant in any transactional practice.

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, Proskauer partners Ira Bogner and Adam Scoll and law clerk Tanusha Yarlagadda discuss the Department of Labor’s final ESG rules issued on November 22, 2022, and how those rules affect the consideration by ERISA fiduciaries of environmental, social, and governance or “ESG” factors when making investment decisions and exercising shareholder rights, such as voting proxies.  Although these final rules generally became effective on January 30, 2023, they are currently being challenged both in the courts and in Congress.

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, Proskauer partner David Teigman, senior counsel Nick LaSpina, and special guest Michelle Garrett, a principal at the compensation consulting firm Semler Brossy, discuss employee retention. It seems like there is an article almost every day talking about the “great resignation.”  In a nutshell, there have been far more job transitions recently than there have been in the past. Tune in as we discuss what employers can do to help retain employees in this working environment.

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, Myron D. Rumeld, partner and co-chair of Proskauer’s ERISA Litigation group and senior associate Tulio D. Chirinos, review the current state of affairs with respect to the litigation challenging the fees charged and investments offered in defined contribution plans; and The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University where the court reversed and remanded the Seventh Circuit’s decision affirming dismissal of a 403(b) plan excessive fee litigation.

For a number of ERISA, tax and other regulatory reasons, it may be desirable for the manager or sponsor of an investment fund or other structure to utilize what is often referred to as a plan asset "hard-wired" conduit feeder.  Tune in to this podcast as partner Ira Bogner and senior counsel Adam Scoll discuss more about these structures, and the advantages they can provide.   

In this episode of the Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Ira Bogner and senior counsel Adam Scoll discuss VCOC "Management Rights."  For VCOC compliance purposes, "management rights" are contractual rights directly between an investing entity and an operating company by which the investing entity can substantially participate in, or substantially influence the conduct of, the management of the operating company.  Unfortunately, there is not a ton of guidance out there explaining what constitutes sufficient VCOC "management rights," so make sure to tune in to this podcast to hear our views.    

Over a year after the CA Supreme Court set new standards for worker classification in its Dynamex ruling, employers with workers in California are faced with often conflicting information about this decision’s practical impact.  In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, Kate Napalkova, special employee benefits and executive compensation counsel, and associate Pietro Deserio discuss Dynamex and its broader meaning for employers and other stakeholders, both in the compliance and transaction arenas.

In this episode of The Proskauer Brief, Kate Napalkova, special employee benefits and executive compensation counsel, and associate Oleg Zakatov discuss potential pitfalls that lurk in employment agreements and other employee compensation arrangements. Specifically, they will focus on key contractual provisions that employers should incorporate into any document that includes a confidentiality covenant. Employers should be sure to tune in to see why involving your in-house team and outside executive compensation and employment counsel to regularly audit employment agreements, employee handbooks, independent confidentiality and IP assignment agreements, and other company policies is always a good idea.

In this episode of the Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner Paul Hamburger, and associate Katrina McCann discuss the suspension of benefits rules, and the unique and interesting issues that arise when defined benefit plan participants work beyond their normal retirement age.  Plan sponsors and administrators should tune in, as these rules are quite complicated and are often misunderstood.