Brian Kopp heads up Nixon Peabody’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice. He advises employers on the variety of legal issues that impact employee benefit plans and executive compensation programs.
My practice focuses on providing sophisticated, practical advice on issues affecting my clients’ retirement and welfare benefit plans and executive compensation programs. I have over 20 years of experience in helping publicly traded and privately held employers design, implement and deliver cost-effective benefits programs to their employees. This counseling includes advising clients on the federal and state laws that apply to benefit plans, such as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) and its fiduciary duty, prohibited transaction, reporting/disclosure and withdrawal liability rules.
I also have substantial experience with executive compensation issues. For example, I have drafted, implemented and provided advice on non-qualified deferred compensation plans, supplemental executive retirement plans, severance plans, change-in-control agreements and stock-based compensation plans, including plans that grant options, restricted stock, restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights, performance shares and other equity-based awards.
For nonprofit employers, I have extensive experience with 403(b) and 457(b) plans, as well as the unique deferred compensation rules that apply to tax-exempt employers.
The regulatory environment for employee benefit plans and executive compensation programs will only get more complex. For example, Health Care Reform has added thousands of new regulations governing medical plans. Additionally, executive compensation practices will draw increased scrutiny from regulators and shareholder activist groups. In this challenging environment, employers need to find cost-efficient solutions to their benefits issues.
Law360 | August 24, 2018
Washington DC partner and team leader John Partigan is mentioned in this article for leading the deal team in Tegna Inc.’s $105 million acquisition of local television stations in Ohio and Texas. The deal team also included partners Sean Clancy, Brian Kopp, Jean McCreary and Denise Pursley; counsel Todd Shinaman; and associates Pierce Han, Dara Histed, Carolyn Lowry and Dana Stanton.
The Deal | March 02, 2018
Public Company Transactions practice group leader John Partigan and attorneys Brian Kopp, Mike Hausknecht, Allan Floro, Justin Thompson, Sean Clancy, Pierce Han, Erin Kansy and Carolyn Lowry were mentioned in this article for representing Tegna in its recent purchase of a CBS-affiliated TV station and two radio stations in San Diego.
Rochester Business Journal | May 05, 2017
Rochester labor and employment partner Brian Kopp is quoted in this article about the job market for new lawyers and accountants and what firms are looking for in young lawyers.
Cornell Law School, J.D., magna cum laude
New York University Graduate School of Business Administration, M.S., Accounting
Colgate University, B.A., Chemistry, cum laude
New York
Brian was selected, through a peer-review survey, for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2019 in the fields of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, Employment Law—Management, and Litigation—Labor and Employment. He was named “Lawyer of the Year” for Employment Law—Management in Rochester, NY for 2019, “Lawyer of the Year” for Litigation—Labor and Employment in Rochester, NY, for 2018, and for Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law for 2014 and 2017. Brian has been listed in Best Lawyers in America since 2012.
Brian was selected to the Upstate New York Super Lawyers list in 2012-2015. His primary area of practice is employee benefits.
Director, New York Employee Benefits Conference
Member of the Monroe County, New York State and American Bar Associations
