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Capabilities 81 results

Practice Area

Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation

With attorneys based in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C., Winston’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation (EBEC) team represents a broad range of plan sponsors and offers clients not just deal support but the full suite of employee benefit services. These include public company reporting and executive compensation, employee benefits in mergers and acquisitions, qualified retirement plans and Title I investment advice, health and welfare benefit plans, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), and international human resources matters. And driven by a volatile labor market, we are partnering with clients to innovate plan structure and design, including cutting-edge services such as private exchange medical benefits, employee benefits in captive insurance, and fiduciary governance best practices. With decades of experience, our EBEC team maintains strong brand recognition, with clients describing our attorneys as “superb,” “very client-friendly,” “extremely responsive and able to bring forth the right resources,” and “having an “incredible breadth of knowledge.”...Read more

Practice Area

Executive Compensation Plans & Agreements

Our Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation (EBEC) attorneys generally focus on two separate but related areas—employee benefits and executive compensation. We advise corporations, boards of directors, private equity firms, and executives on all legal, design, drafting, negotiation, and compliance aspects of executive compensation matters. We advise corporations, firms, fiduciaries, executives, administrators, governmental entities, and financial institutions on innovative and traditional employee retirement and health and welfare benefits programs. Our substantial experience and over 50 years of involvement in the EBEC field have given us a deep understanding of the evolution of benefits law and the market for executive compensation....Read more

Practice Area

Qualified Retirement Plans

Our team’s deep market knowledge of laws affecting retirement plans enables us to develop customized retirement plan solutions, practical advice, and strategies for our clients’ unique needs and workforce composition. Our experienced benefits attorneys represent public companies, private companies, and private equity operating companies in retirement plan design and day-to-day plan compliance....Read more

Experience 127 results

Experience

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January 19, 2026

Winston Advises smartTrade Technologies Group on the Acquisition of kACE

A cross-border team from advised smartTrade Technologies Group (“smartTrade”), a leading provider of multi-asset electronic trading and payments solutions, on its acquisition of kACE Financial (“kACE”), formerly known as Fenics, a well-established provider of technology solutions for FX and interest rate derivatives pricing, analytics, and workflow management....Read more

Experience

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January 6, 2026

Brightwood Capital’s Acquisition of Museum of Illusions Group

A team led by Bradley Vaiana and Austin Leach represented Brightwood Capital Advisors, LLC (“Brightwood”), a New York–based investment firm, in its acquisition of Museum of Illusions Group, the world’s largest privately held chain of museums, from Invera Capital Partners. As part of the transaction, five previously franchised locations will transition from the chain’s largest franchisee, LOL Entertainment, to become corporate-owned sites. Winston attorneys across multiple practice areas and offices, including M&A, Tax, Intellectual Property, Employee Benefits, and the firm’s UK office, assisted in structuring a complex cross-border transaction to support Brightwood's fund investment goals. The acquisitions were completed on January 6, 2026....Read more

Experience

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November 7, 2025

Precision Aviation Group - Acquisition of Helicopter Engine Repair Overhaul Services

A team led by Austin Leach and Justin Levy represented Precision Aviation Group (PAG) in its acquisition of H.E.R.O.S., a premier Rolls-Royce M250/RR300 engine MRO provider, and its affiliate, Hye-Tech Manufacturing. ...Read more
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Insights & News 4,409 results

Webinar

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FEBRUARY 4 – MARCH 11, 2026

Digital Assets: What Financial Institutions Are Building Now… and Next

Spurred by a rapidly evolving regulatory environment and increased commercial demand, financial institutions are accelerating their implementation of blockchain technology and digital assets into their legacy platforms or partnering with digital assets firms to provide their clients with access to crypto markets....Read more

Benefits Blast

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February 2, 2026

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3 Min Read

U.S. Department of Labor AMICUS Briefs Support Curbing Wave of ERISA Litigation

An ERISA litigation trend has emerged that would have been unthinkable a few years ago: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is intervening in court and taking the employer’s side. This trend reflects a deliberate policy shift that matters for every plan sponsor and fiduciary in an environment where “regulation by litigation” has become a default strategy for plaintiffs’ lawyers.

Benefits Blast

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January 30, 2026

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2 Min Read

New Executive Order Targets Proxy Advisory Firms: Key ERISA Implications

On December 11, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order (the Order) targeting the two major proxy advisory firms, ISS and Glass Lewis. The Order asserts that these firms often prioritize political agendas, particularly diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives,  over investor returns.  As a result, the Order directed the US Department of Labor (DOL) and other agencies to take certain actions. The resulting DOL action could have significant impact for ERISA plan fiduciaries.

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Other Results 74 results

Law Glossary

What Is Executive Compensation?

The term executive compensation refers to the financial payments and non-financial benefits provided to the upper level management within a business or organization. Employees who receive this type of compensation are generally presidents or vice-presidents, chief executive, financial, operating, legal, and other C-Suite executives. An executive compensation package is a group of benefits that could include stock awards, severance protection, deferred compensation, and retirement plans. SEC regulations require public companies to disclose the amount their executives are earning, plus how this amount is calculated. Some states also have executive compensation laws....Read more

Law Glossary

What Is Performance-Based Compensation?

Performance-based compensation (PBC) is a system for rewarding employees financially, outside of their regular salaries. The financial compensation is based on how individual employees, departments, the company, or the company’s stock price performs during a specific time frame and in accordance with pre-determined goals set by the organization. These programs may also be called Pay-For-Performance systems. Companies who utilize these systems must be prepared to define and track performance, as well as provide compensation, such as bonuses, when objectives are met according to benchmarks. The supplemental income will also have tax implications for employees.  ...Read more

Law Glossary

What Is ERISA?

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is a federal law from 1974 that governs how employers provide benefit plans to employees. ERISA is administered in part by the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), a branch of the U.S. Department of Labor. The law establishes requirements and guidelines for employers and benefit plan managers, trustees and certain other service providers. ERISA ensures minimum standards are set for the majority of private industry pension and health plans, as well as other benefit plans such as life insurance. Under ERISA, employees must be notified of benefit plan terms, including funding, coverage, and costs. Employees are also offered protections against fiduciary wrongdoing. Plan participants or the DOL may be able to sue plan fiduciaries if plans are mismanaged or if plan fiduciaries engage in conduct prohibited under ERISA, and plan participants may sue for unpaid benefits.   ...Read more
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