Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits

Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits

Lawyers with deep and broad experience counseling clients in every industry on the design, implementation, and interpretation of executive compensation arrangements and on general compensation and benefits issues.

Key Contacts

Meet Our Team

Areas of Focus

Expand All Collapse All

Experience

  • Counsel numerous global public companies on equity and executive compensation and benefits matters including Thermo Fisher Scientific, MKS Instruments, State Street, TMX Group, Skyworks Solutions, Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Ameresco, MicroStrategy and PTC Therapeutics.
  • Acted as executive compensation and benefits counsel to PerkinElmer in its $5.25 billion acquisition of BioLegend, including advising on the integration of 401(k) and executive deferred compensation plans and in its $2.45 billion divestiture of its Applied, Food and Enterprise Services businesses to New Mountain Capital, including providing extensive advice on the transferring of employees and various benefit programs across multiple jurisdictions, efficiently supervising local counsel in dozens of countries.
  • Advised MKS Instruments with certain executive compensation aspects of its $4.4 billion acquisition of Atotech, an international specialty chemicals and equipment company.
  • Acted as executive compensation and benefits counsel to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in its acquisition by Veritas Capital; Adore Me in its acquisition by Victoria’s Secret; AVEO Oncology in its acquisition by LG Chem; Epizyme in its acquisition by Ipsen; Akouos in its acquisition by Lilly; Akamai Technologies in its acquisition of Linode Limited Liability Company and its pending acquisition of Neosec; Solid Biosciences in its acquisition of AavantiBio; and Progress Software Corporation in its acquisition of Kemp Technologies.
  • Regularly act as executive compensation and benefits counsel to private companies engaging in acquisitions and sales, including SDC Capital Partners in its’ acquisition of Basalt Infrastructure Partners; Benu Networks in its acquisition by Ciena Corporation; Lookout, Inc. in the sale of its mobile security benefits to F-Secure; and SecZetta Inc in its acquisition by SailPoint Technologies.
  • Regularly act as executive compensation and benefits counsel to companies going public, whether via an initial public offering process, a reverse merger or a de-SPAC transaction including Schrödinger, Verve Therapeutics, Cue Health, Xilio Therapeutics and Carisma Therapeutics.

Recognition

  • Award Text

    Named a Leading Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice in Massachusetts

    Chambers USA

    2010-2024

  • Award Text

    Recommended for Labor and Employment: Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation (Transactions)

    The Legal 500 United States

    2017-2023

  • Best Lawyers in America – Recognized 124 WilmerHale lawyers, including Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Partners Kim Wethly, Amy Null, Scott Kilgore, Bill Caporizzo and Ciara Baker: and named Kim Wethly a “Lawyer of the Year” in the 2024 edition of its peer-reviewed publication.
  • U.S. News - Best Lawyers® – In the 2010–2024 “Best Law Firms” rankings, our tax law practice was ranked in the first tier nationally.  
  • Chambers USA Guide – Recognized our Massachusetts Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice in 2010–2024, praising our group for the “corporate savvy of its attorneys” and calling out the services we provide to “clients seeking executive compensation advice during the early stages of company formation,” stating that we are “a top-flight US firm” and our team is “great at meeting and exceeding expectations,” “seamless and integrated” and one “you can really depend on.”
  • The Legal 500 United States – Regularly recognizes WilmerHale among the top law firms for our work in the area of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation (Transactions), most recently in the 2023 edition.
  • BTI Consulting Group – Named Kim Wethly to its Client Service All-Stars 2019 list for exhibiting exceptional client service.
  • Washington Magazine – Named Scott Kilgore a 2023 Lawyer Lifetime Achievement Member.
  • Super Lawyers – Selected Scott Kilgore for inclusion as a Washington DC Super Lawyer in the area of Employment and Labor in 2013-2023.

Insights & News

Notice

Unless you are an existing client, before communicating with WilmerHale by e-mail (or otherwise), please read the Disclaimer referenced by this link.(The Disclaimer is also accessible from the opening of this website). As noted therein, until you have received from us a written statement that we represent you in a particular manner (an "engagement letter") you should not send to us any confidential information about any such matter. After we have undertaken representation of you concerning a matter, you will be our client, and we may thereafter exchange confidential information freely.

Thank you for your interest in WilmerHale.