Cisco Palao-Ricketts > Goodwin > Silicon Valley, United States > Lawyer Profile
Goodwin Offices
601 Marshall Street
Redwood City, CA 94063
CALIFORNIA
United States
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Cisco Palao-Ricketts
Position
Partner
Career
Cisco Palao-Ricketts is a partner in the firm’s Business Law department and ERISA/Executive Compensation practice. He handles the full range of executive compensation and benefits matters, but has had a particular focus on the executive compensation and benefits aspects of M&A, IPO and SPAC transactions.
Cisco is experienced in advising start-up, emerging growth and public companies regarding compensation and employee benefit issues. Specifically, his practice includes counseling on:
- equity compensation, including incentive stock options (ISOs) and nonqualified stock options (NSOs), restricted stock, performance share and stock unit awards, stock appreciation rights, employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs), profits interests and phantom equity arrangements
- all types of compensation and employee benefits issues that arise in M&A, spin-offs and other complex corporate transactions, including with respect to executive retention and post-transaction employee transition matters
- employment, retention, change of control and severance arrangements, as well as bonus and commission plans
- the design, implementation, tax aspects, operation and any related fiduciary obligations with respect to tax-qualified retirement plans, including defined benefit and 401 (k) retirement plans, nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements and employee welfare benefit plans, including compliance with Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and recent healthcare reform laws
Education
LLM, Georgetown University Law Center 2004 / JD, Syracuse University College of Law 2003 / BA, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1999
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
Goodwin has great experience in handling cross-border M&A and fund structuring mandates, and is especially ‘well known in the technology space’, along with the investment and private equity sectors. Patrick Menasco co-heads the team from Washington DC, bringing extensive knowledge on Title I of ERISA and pension investment plans, while fellow co-head, Boston-based James Mattus, advises public and private companies in structuring and administering equity-based compensation plans. From the Silicon Valley office, Lynda Galligan, focuses on assisting emerging growth companies in the technology and life sciences industries, and in Boston, Natascha George has great experience in supporting clients with executive employment and consulting arrangements. From Silicon Valley, the ‘very responsive’ Grace Wirth deals with tax and securities law issues and Cisco Palao-Ricketts concentrates on compensation and benefits elements of corporate transactions. San Francisco-based Heather Brookfield is also noted.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Finance > Financial services regulation
- Industry focus > Cannabis
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- Real estate > Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Venture capital and emerging companies
Firm Rankings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Industry focus > Education
- Labor and employment > ERISA litigation
- Finance > Fintech
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m)
- Investment fund formation and management > Mutual/registered/exchange-traded funds
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- International Trade > CFIUS
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Dispute resolution > E-discovery
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: consumer products (including tobacco)
- Real estate > Real estate
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism
- Intellectual property > Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters)
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Labor and employment > Workplace and employment counseling
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: design
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
- Healthcare > Service providers
- International Trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Intellectual property > Patents: prosecution (including re-examination and post-grant proceedings)