Reuters Legal News and Westlaw, By Wendi S. Lazar & Katherine Blostein, July 21, 2021

Reuters Legal News and Westlaw, By Wendi S. Lazar & Katherine Blostein, July 14, 2021

Katherine Blostein and Amy Biegelsen, O&G Employment Law Blog, October 16, 2015

Wendi S. Lazar, Co-Editor In-Chief, Katherine Blostein, Associate Editor Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., 2015.

Wendi S. Lazar and Katherine Blostein write about negotiating executive compensation agreements, and current issues. The landscape of executive compensation has changed significantly since the financial crisis of 2008. As a result of the ensuing downturn and increased public scrutiny, executives’ leverage in negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment and equity agreements has decreased. The overwhelming outcry about excessive pay from shareholders and the public following the downturn resulted in new legislation that limits executive pay for top executives at public companies and imposes compensation restrictions and disclosure requirements on large companies generally. However, in the intervening years, the Securities and Exchange Commission still has not enacted rules implementing a significant portion of the new legislation, and therefore much uncertainty remains. In addition, the past several years have seen a return to performance-based compensation, as well as a movement towards eradicating excessive guaranteed bonuses on Wall Street and among other bonus-based businesses. Wendi S. Lazar and Katherine Blostein write about negotiating executive compensation agreements, and current issues. Bloomberg BNA, Pensions and Benefits Daily. Reproduced with permission from Pension & Benefits Daily, 127 PBD, 07/02/2014. Copyright 2014 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) http://www.bna.com

Wendi S. Lazar and Katherine Blostein. Bloomberg BNA, Reproduced with permission from Pension & Benefits Daily, PBD, 11/02/2011. Copyright 2011 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) http://www.bna.com

The financial crisis of 2008 and the ongoing down-turn in the economy has had a significant effect on executive compensation and on executives’ leverage in negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment and equity agreements. The overwhelming outcry about excessive pay from shareholders and the public has resulted in federal regulations that limit executive pay for top executives at public companies and impose compensation restrictions and disclosure requirements on large companies generally. In addition, there has been a return to performance-based compensation, as well as a movement toward eradicating guaranteed bonuses on Wall Street and among other bonus-based businesses.

However, because of a need for top talent in tough times, companies are adjusting to the newly imposed restrictions and, where possible, are finding creative ways to structure compensation packages for employees. Unfortunately, public opinion is not as easily assuaged. The current challenge for companies and their counsel negotiating executive agreements is to balance the need for attracting and compensating top talent against potential negative public opinion. How hard and where to push becomes a concern in order to ensure that these agreements pass muster with the companies’ shareholders.

With these considerations in mind, attorneys representing executives should be aware of the most recent trends, developments, and regulations that will affect negotiations in the current economy.

Executive Pay: Skydiving With a

Wendi Lazar and Katherine Blostein survey the new laws and regulations associated with the current economic downturn and the resulting shifts in the form, nature, and timing of executive compensation. Recently enacted laws like the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, as well as Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code, impose firm restrictions on the compensation of top executives; the restrictions vary based on the size of the employer and whether it is publicly traded. This article concludes that “the days of paying excessive executive compensation unchallenged by regulators and shareholders [are] over.” The authors emphasize the need for attorneys negotiating executive employment agreements to be aware of these and other developments and their impact on the type of compensation packages employers are offering their top executives. Attorneys also must ensure that all agreements about compensation are memorialized in an employment agreement or other contract, including provisions for the treatment of deferred compensation in the event of termination.

*Originally published as Wendi S. Lazar and Katherine Blostein, “Changing Economy Impacts Executive Pay,” BNA Pension & Benefits Daily, 172 PBD, Sept. 09, 2009.

Reproduced with permission from Executive Compensation Library on the Web, XCLW, 06/06/2011. Copyright

Wendi S. Lazar and Katherine Blostein 2010 Contributor, treatise, published by BNA

Wendi S. Lazar and Katherine Blostein, New York Law Journal (online), May 1, 2009

Now that bankruptcy proceedings have replaced mergers and acquisitions, poaching key employees rather than buying a division can be cost effective. Corporate raiding of employees, however, raises serious legal and financial concerns for everyone involved, but particularly for employees and their counsel.

Poaching a coveted employee or raiding a team is bound to leave behind an angry employer who wants revenge. The hardest job for employee-side counsel is to keep the client from becoming a defendant in a lawsuit against both the employee and the new employer.

Knowing how to prevent or minimize an employee's liability in this situation is critical. Counseling employees on terms and conditions to be negotiated with the new employer before departure will protect them from economic loss and protracted and costly litigation.

Wendi S. Lazar, Pension & Benefits Daily, published by Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (BNA), 2009, with Co-Author, Katherine Blostein.