The New York-based practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP assists public and private companies, management teams, boards of directors, and executives on the full spectrum of employee compensation matters. This includes issues related to tax, securities, bankruptcy, corporate governance, and ERISA claims, as well as counsel on a wide range of executive compensation arrangements and all types of stock- and cash-based plans. Practice lead Erica Schohn focuses on compensation and benefits aspects of national and cross-border corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, bankruptcy reorganizations, and carve-out deals. She is supported by Joseph Penko, who serves as a key contact for executive employment and severance agreements, retention and change-in-control plans, and cash- and equity-based incentive programs. Joseph Yaffe retired in January 2026.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Accolades
Client satisfaction: Lawyer & team quality
Client satisfaction: Billing & efficiency
Client satisfaction: Sector knowledge
Key clients
- Union Pacific Corporation
- FedEx Corporation
- CI Financial Corp.
- CC Capital Partners
- Berry Global Group, Inc.
- Mars, Inc.
- Intel Corporation
- Acrisure, LLC
- ServiceNow, Inc.
- Crypto.com
- Getty Images Holdings, Inc.
- Scopely, Inc.
- Caesars Entertainment, Inc.
- JAB Holding Company
- Hut 8 Corp.
- American Bitcoin
- Spirit AeroSystems, Inc.
- Bitfarms Ltd.
- James Hardie Industries plc
- Vimeo, Inc.
Work highlights
Advising Union Pacific Corporation on compensation and benefits aspects of its $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern Corporation.
Advised CI Financial Corp. and its U.S.-based wealth management and asset manager affiliate Corient in compensation and benefits aspects of its going-private acquisition by an affiliate of Mubadala Capital.
Advising FedEx on compensation and benefits aspects of the planned spin-off of FedEx Freight to create two public companies.
Practice head
Erica Schohn
Other key lawyers
Joseph Penko