Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are unique vehicles that facilitate both retirement savings and beneficial equity ownership to employees, while also providing tax-preferred debt financing for employers and the opportunity for shareholders to liquidate their equity interests on a tax-favored basis.
Ballard Spahr’s ESOP attorneys created their first ESOP in 1978 and, over the subsequent decades, have established themselves as national leaders in ESOP law while earning a reputation for providing sophisticated yet practical ESOP advice. We represent ESOP companies, trustees, shareholders, and banks in ESOP-related legal and transactional matters. We advise clients throughout the entire lifecycle of an ESOP—from plan design and qualification to compliance, fiduciary and tax considerations, implementation, financing, corporate and ESOP governance, merger and acquisition activities, Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor audits, voting rights and rights relating to tender offers, and fiduciary indemnification and insurance.
We represent ESOP clients across the United States whose plan assets range from $1 million to more than $6 billion and whose workforce spans from fewer than 25 employees to more than 45,000 employees. In many cases, we represent these companies from the establishment of their ESOPs. Other times, we have assumed legal responsibility from other law firms. Each year we also represent ESOP clients in ESOP transactions, including new ESOPs, contributory ESOPs, second-stage ESOPs, ESOP re-leveraging transactions, and sales and mergers of ESOP companies.