Practices
Industries
Value-Added Services
Developing innovative pricing structures and alternative fee agreement models that deliver additional value for our clients.
Advancing professional knowledge and offering credits for attorneys, staff and other professionals.
Helping clients respond correctly when a crisis occurs.
Providing our clients with legal, strategic, and practical advice to make transformational changes in their organizations.
Leveraging law and technology to deliver sound solutions.
Delivering seamless service through partnerships across the globe.
Leveraging leading-edge technology to guide change and create seamless, collaborative experiences for clients and attorneys.
Industry-leading conferences focused on affordable housing, tax credits, and more.
Providing actionable information to support strategic decision-making.
Teaming with clients to advance sustainable projects, mitigate the effects of climate change, and protect our planet.
Offering a range of investment management and fiduciary services.
Bringing together companies and investors for tomorrow’s new deals.
Offering fresh insights on cases that are delayed, over budget, or off-target from the desired resolution.
Courtroom-ready lawyers who can resolve disputes early on clients’ terms or prevail at trial before a judge or jury.
Creating positive impact in our communities through increasing equity, access, and opportunity.
Brian Kopp 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.
New York
Colgate University, B.A., Chemistry, cum laude
Cornell Law School, J.D., magna cum laude
New York University Graduate School of Business Administration, M.S., Accounting
Brian was selected, through a peer-review survey, for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2025 in the fields of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law; Employment Law—Management; and Litigation—Labor and Employment. He was named the Best Lawyers® 2025, 2023 and 2019 Employment Law—Management “Lawyer of the Year”; 2025, 2023, 2020, 2017, and 2014 Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law “Lawyer of the Year”; and 2024 and 2018 Litigation—Labor and Employment “Lawyer of the Year” in Rochester, NY. He 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.
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