Baker Botts has a substantial practice in the employee benefits and executive compensation, assisting clients with all aspects of compensation and benefit plans and programs under the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA, and with the myriad legal issues that impact employee benefits under federal labor and securities laws and state laws. Clients of our employee benefits practice cover the entire business spectrum, and range from small, privately held entities offering a limited number of benefit programs to very large publicly-traded, multi-national employers who offer a full array of employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements. Our lawyers recognize and adapt to the broad variety of client needs and levels of legal sophistication based on each client's particular circumstances and types of benefit programs.
We continue to see growth in the area of executive and deferred compensation. This has been a particularly active area in light of the developing law under Section 409A, along with addressing issues under Section 162(m) ($1 million compensation limit), Section 280G (golden parachute tax) and SEC disclosure rules. Our executive compensation practice includes in-depth experience with all types of stock-based compensation, incentive compensation, bonus plans and contracts, offer letters, consulting agreements, change in control agreements, severance arrangements, co-employment agreements, "people leasing" arrangements, covenants not to compete, confidentiality agreements and various arrangements used to compensate multinational and expatriate executives.
We also assist clients with executive compensation and employee benefit issues that arise in connection with mergers and acquisitions, a particularly active area over the last few years.
Our lawyers actively assist clients with the design, drafting and administration of many different types of deferred compensation, supplemental retirement and excess benefit programs, including the review and drafting of programs for compliance with new deferred compensation tax rules. We advise clients regarding standard, innovative and nontraditional funding approaches and asset protection vehicles used in connection with such programs. We regularly assist with review and analysis of the tax, corporate and securities laws impacting such programs, and have substantial experience in designing and implementing innovative funding approaches. We also regularly evaluate "new ideas" for design and funding.
In meeting our clients' needs, our lawyers have also developed extensive experience in the design, implementation and maintenance of 401(k) and pension and welfare plans. In addition, we represent financial institutions and individuals in their capacities as trustees, plan administrators or other ERISA fiduciaries; and joint boards of trustees of multiemployer employee benefit plans.
Another growing part of our practice is the representation of employers and plan fiduciaries in connection with the expanded compliance programs instituted by the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. We have assisted clients in the negotiation of corporate transactions such as acquisitions, mergers, credit arrangements and public offerings. We have also been extensively involved in a number of major lawsuits involving employee benefit plans.
Our leadership in various benefits-related organizations and close contacts with regulators allow us to give timely advice based on "real world" current issues and developments.