SEND AN E-MAIL TO THIS FELLOWJoseph Adams
Chicago, IL
Joseph (Joe) S. Adams focuses his practice exclusively on executive compensation and employee benefits.
Joe has substantial experience advising clients regarding executive compensation and employee benefits programs, including the following areas:
•Advising on the design, drafting and ongoing operation of 401(k)/profit sharing plans, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), cash balance and other defined benefit pension plans, addressing such issues as how to best demonstrate compliance with the comprehensive fiduciary duty requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), how to successfully resolve comprehensive Department of Labor (DOL) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits, and how to address complex participant claims for benefits
•Drafting short-term and long-term incentive compensation arrangements such as bonus plans, "omnibus" long-term incentive plans (LTIPs), stock options and stock appreciation rights (SARs) agreements, restricted stock and restricted stock unit (RSU) agreements, and other phantom and actual equity arrangements
•Designing nonqualified retirement plans such as deferred compensation plans, top hat plans and supplemental executive retirement plans (SERPs), and ensuring such arrangements comply with Internal Revenue Code Section 409A (regarding nonqualified deferred compensation)
•Representing employers, executives and compensation committees with respect to employment agreements and separation agreements
•Advising on the impact of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and spin-offs on employee benefit plans, executive compensation arrangements and individual executive employment agreements
•Analyzing the need for executive compensation programs and employee benefit plans to comply with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirements (proxy rules, 8-Ks, S-8s, 11-Ks, etc.), IRS rules (including Code Section 162(m), 280G and 409A), Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank and other corporate governance standards, and listing exchange (NYSE or NASDAQ) requirements
