Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm, has expanded the national footprint of its Tax Practice Group with employee benefits and executive compensation lawyer Gabriel Marinaro in Chicago. Marinaro joins the firm from Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in Chicago.

“Gabe is a valuable addition to our national Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice, and he adds a new layer of experience to our tax team in Chicago,” said Peter Larsen, chair of Akerman’s Tax Practice Group. “He is highly knowledgeable on the compensation and benefits-related implications of corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, and he can advise clients on a range of benefits and executive compensation matters.”

Marinaro regularly counsels publicly traded and privately held companies, multinational entities, tax-exempt organizations and governmental entities on a variety of employee benefits and executive compensation matters. He advises on benefits and compensation issues that arise in domestic and cross-border corporate transactions, financings and corporate reorganizations. He regularly advises on treatment of benefit plans and equity awards in various deal structures, advising on Code Section 280G golden parachute requirements, and drafting and negotiating severance agreements, change in control agreements and retention bonus agreements. Marinaro also assists employers and executives on a wide range of executive compensation matters including drafting employment agreements, equity and cash incentive arrangements, nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, and advising on compliance with Code Sections 83, 162(m), 409A, 457(f) and 457A.

In addition, Marinaro is experienced with ERISA issues regarding eligibility for benefit plan investors to invest in hedge funds, private and public offerings and other investment vehicles. He also assists plan sponsors and other fiduciaries with respect to their fiduciary obligations under ERISA and the prohibited transaction rules under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code.