Structuring Pension, Health, and Welfare Plans for Multinational Companies

Ms. Cowart has counseled employers for more than 30 years on best practices in human resources and employee relations related to benefits and executive compensation. In her practice, she develops strategies for effective administration of claims and other disputes, as well as in ERISA litigation, while also considering applicable labor and employment laws. Ms. Cowart has considerable experience de-risking pension, disability, and retiree medical benefits in order to manage those financial risks. She also reviews fiduciary operations to improve the documentation of the fiduciary process. Ms. Cowart works closely with clients defending IRS team audits and U.S. Department of Labor audits, including service provider audits. She works with clients to take proactive steps to build the procedures and records to address issues related to audits. Ms. Cowart also assists clients in creative executive compensation plan design and resolution of administration and operation issues, including those under Code Section 409A.

Ms. Wachter is an attorney in Jackson Walker’s Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits practice. She advises public and private companies on executive compensation matters, with a focus on public company SEC disclosure, corporate governance, and compensation-related aspects of capital markets and M&A transactions. Ms. Wachter's practice includes drafting and reviewing proxy statement and periodic report disclosures, advising on say-on-pay matters, and structuring executive and equity compensation arrangements in connection with financings and other strategic transactions. She also counsels companies on the design, implementation, and administration of executive and equity-based compensation programs, with particular attention to the tax, ERISA, securities, and corporate governance considerations that shape those arrangements. In addition, Ms. Wachter regularly advises on employment, retention, separation and other ad hoc compensation arrangements for senior executives and key employees.

Ms. Zerjav provides sophisticated client counseling in regard to executive compensation, employee benefits and employee relations, including in connection with mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and other strategic transactions. She regularly represents Fortune 1000 companies, private equity-backed businesses and venture capital entities across a variety of industries with respect to complex employee benefit plan and compensation issues.