Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation


One of your primary challenges is how to attract and retain top talent in an increasingly competitive and regulated employment environment.

Clients count on Dykema’s “highly knowledgeable and responsive” Chambers USA-ranked employee benefits and executive compensation lawyers to provide innovative counsel to help them develop plans to help you achieve your talent objectives.

Our employee benefits and executive compensation lawyers work closely with the firm’s corporate and finance, employment and tax practices to provide state of the art counsel to our clients with respect to both traditional and emerging areas of the employee benefits laws.

Whether helping a client formulate a new plan or make adjustments to an existing one, we ensure our clients comply with these laws at every juncture. We help clients with ongoing legal compliance through internal self-audits and represent them in external IRS and Department of Labor audits, investigations (including Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation  negotiations), disputes relating to administration of plans, the other legal requirements governing a specific plan, including securing updated IRS tax-determination letters and private letter rulings.

We help clients design, implement, fund, administer and terminate qualified employee benefit plans, such as:

  • defined benefit
  • cash balance
  • profit sharing
  • 401(k)
  • 403(b)
  • deferred retirement option
  • employee stock ownership plans

We also draft retirement plans and trust documents to comport with ERISA, IRS requirements, and the securities laws.

We are well versed in executive compensation and executive plans, including:

  • employment agreements
  • stock options
  • restricted stock
  • deferred compensation
  • long-term incentive plans
  • severance agreements
  • golden parachutes
  • rabbi and secular trusts
  • phantom and performance share plans
  • supplemental executive retirement plans

We also help develop creative customized executive compensation packages, advise on the competitiveness and tax consequences of such packages and negotiate with executives on behalf of business clients—either as new hires or in severance or continuation of employment scenarios.

We help our clients design, implement, fund, administer, and terminate employee welfare plans, such as:

  • cafeteria plans
  • group health plans
  • health savings accounts
  • disability and life insurance plans
  • flexible spending plans (such as medical, dependent care and educational)
  • VEBA trusts
  • severance agreements

Our employee benefits lawyers skillfully counsel clients through the myriad of employee plan issues that arise when a business is involved in a purchase or sale, merger or acquisition, spin-off, closure, or other transaction.

Dykema boasts a specialized Public Retirement Team of dedicated professionals with extensive experience working with and through the federal and state retirement laws—including Internal Revenue Code provisions, Michigan statutes, and the federal and state case law governing state and local retirement plans, including OPEB liabilities.

We ensure our clients comply with all applicable state and federal laws relating to employees, including:

  • Americans with Disabilities Act
  • Age Discrimination in Employment Act
  • Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
  • Family and Medical Leave Act
  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
  • Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification
  • Sarbanes-Oxley’s provisions regarding executive compensation

Dykema’s lawyers have a deep body of experience defending ERISA claims. Whether brought in the form of a discrete lawsuit or a class action, we work with our clients to develop strategies to bring these cases to a rapid and successful conclusion.

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Dykema Receives 14 National Rankings and 153 Metro Rankings in Best Law Firms for 2024

Dykema, a leading national law firm, announced today that the firm was nationally ranked in 14…

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Legal Alerts11.2.23

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Press Releases9.18.23

15 Dykema Attorneys Named to Texas Super Lawyers List for 2023

Dykema, a leading national law firm, announced today that 15 of its Texas-based attorneys—from…

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