Brandon Gantus > Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP > Silicon Valley, United States > Lawyer Profile

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
2710 Sand Hill Road
Menlo Park
California, 94025
CALIFORNIA
United States

Work Department

Employee benefits/Executive compensation

Position

Partner

Career

Brandon’s practice focuses on the representation of companies in their compensation and employee benefits matters, with a particular emphasis on mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions.  He regularly advises clients on the design, drafting, and administration of equity-based compensation programs (including stock option, restricted stock, and other equity arrangements); employment, consulting, retention, severance, change in control, and deferred compensation arrangements; and the associated tax (including Section 409A), accounting, ERISA, and securities law implications. He also assists public and private companies with corporate governance and compliance matters, including compensation disclosures for proxy filings and other applicable securities filings, as well as employee communications and public announcements.

Memberships

  • Speaker, “Through the Accounting Lens: Clawbacks, ESG and Discretion,” The National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, October 2021.
  • Co-author, “Legal Framework and Considerations for Implementing and Enforcing Clawbacks,” Journal of Pension Benefits, Autumn 2020.
  • Co-author, “Clawbacks: Challenges, Pitfalls, and Trends,” The Corporate Governance Advisor, March/April 2021.
  • Speaker, “Compensation Confidential,” LaunchBio, January 2021 & May 2021.
  • Speaker, “CEO Pay Ratio and More,” The National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, San Francisco Chapter, February 2017.
  • Speaker, “How Public and Private Companies Should Prepare for the Requirements of the SEC’s Clawback Rules,” The National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, San Francisco Chapter, August 2015.

Education

  • LL.M., Taxation, Georgetown University Law Center, 2008, With Distinction; Recipient, Employee Benefits Certificate
  • J.D., American University Washington College of Law, 2006
  • B.A., Political Science, Boston College, 2001

Lawyer Rankings

United States > Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional

Advising clients from the technology, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing industries, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP handles employee benefit and executive compensation aspects of complex M&As, IPO and de-SPAC transactions, as showcased by the firm assisting Google in its $5.4bn acquisition of Mandiant. In New York, both Lori Goodman and Nicole Foster co-head the department, with the former regularly leading on the employee benefits elements of many large global transactions, and the latter focusing on providing cross-border executive compensation advice. In the Silicon Valley office, Brandon Gantus  was promoted to partner in August 2022, and is highly experienced at supporting clients on the design, drafting and administration of equity-based compensation programs, while counsel Sarah Ghulamhussain  works with technology and life sciences companies.