Client Services / Employee Benefits & Pensions / ESOPs

ESOPs

McDermott Will & Emery’s ESOP Practice is one of the most respected in the United States. The Firm, founded in 1934 by tax attorney E.H. McDermott originally focused on federal taxation matters. Today, we work worldwide to provide clients with comprehensive legal services. Our lawyers can draw on a wide range of resources and experienced lawyers to address any issue that arises in the course of an ESOP transaction. The Firm’s Employee Benefits Department is the United States’ oldest and, with 40 lawyers, the largest and our tax practice, with more than 130 attorneys, is the largest of any law firm in the United States.

ESOPs can be complicated, especially, as is often the case, when they are used in financial transactions. The ESOP Group at our Firm includes lawyers with the experience developed through work on hundreds of ESOP transactions to deal with the complexities and to utilize the intricate ESOP rules for our clients' benefit. Our ESOP lawyers are part of a broader practice group consisting of attorneys with experience in corporate finance, securities regulation, lending, litigation, labor law, estate planning and related areas. We draw on these capabilities to address all aspects of ESOP transactions.

Our experience with ESOPs is not limited to a particular niche or aspect of the subject. ESOPs are an immensely versatile technique, and our attorneys have played important roles in the development of ESOP law for a wide variety of clients in a full range of situations.

We have represented many of the leading lending institutions in the United States in large and small ESOP loans. We have assisted these institutions with the development of innovative techniques for utilizing ESOP benefits more fully. Our Firm serves as regular counsel on a continuing basis to most of the leading independent fiduciaries for ESOPs.

We also have represented many other institutional and individual trustees in ESOP transactions. Our Firm has been engaged by many union and employee groups in transactions initiated by those groups. We have a great deal of experience in employee and management buyouts from large public corporations. In addition, we have served as counsel for many private companies and business owners in establishing a wide range of ESOPs for a variety of purposes.

At the core of our ESOP Group is a team of lawyers in throughout our Firm’s offices who concentrate their practices on ESOP law. The breadth and depth of McDermott Will & Emery's ESOP practice allows us to deliver comprehensive legal services in a cost-effective manner. Through our work on hundreds of ESOPs, we have developed necessary document forms and a wealth of research on the more esoteric issues affecting ESOPs. By drawing on these resources, we are able to complete a transaction or achieve the appropriate outcome with a minimum of newly created documentation or basic research. This helps to keep costs to a minimum.

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Employee Benefits & Pensions Client Services

McDermott Will & Emery

McDermott Will and Emery