Philadelphia
Phone +1.215.963.5036
Fax +1.215.963.5001
1701 Market St.//Philadelphia, PA 19103-2921//United States
Mims Maynard Zabriskie advises on complex executive compensation and employee benefit plan matters, including the design, negotiation, and implementation of executive compensation, equity compensation, and tax–qualified retirement plans and shareholder approval of equity plans. She counsels large publicly and privately owned businesses, including Fortune 500 enterprises, technology companies, and universities on a range of legal issues related to executive compensation governance, and employee benefit plans. Mims also represents executives in the negotiation of employment agreements and equity compensation, including in connection with transactions. She advises on benefits and executive compensation issues that arise during major corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, sales, IPOs, and spinoffs.
Co-leader of the firm’s Executive Compensation Task Force, Mims advises corporations and compensation committees with respect to governance issues relating to executive compensation and works with corporations and executives to design and negotiate employment agreements, severance agreements, and change of control agreements for key executives. She advises companies with respect to equity compensation plans, deferred compensation and other executive plans, and change of control agreements in preparation for sales or public offerings.
Mims has experience with qualified and nonqualified plans, including retirement and other defined benefit plans, and 401(k) and other defined contribution plans. She also advises on severance plans and clawback policies; matters related to ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code, including Section 409A, Section 162(m), and Section 280G; and issues involving the Internal Revenue Service and the US Department of Labor.
She advises publicly held companies in matters related to executive compensation proxy disclosures and equity compensation plan shareholder approval; and counsels boards of directors, compensation committees, and administrators in fiduciary best practices, compliance procedures, and governance issues.
Mims also works with boards to determine whether and when a compensation committee should seek independent counsel that does not otherwise represent the company or its management.
Active in a variety of professional and civic organizations, she lectures on executive compensation and equity compensation issues at legal continuing education programs. She is listed in Chambers USA (2007–2019) and Best Lawyers in America (1987–2019).
Awards and Affiliations
Best of the Bar, Tax/Employee Benefits, Philadelphia Business Journal (2019)
Member, Law Firm of the Year, Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation, Chambers USA (2019)
Member, Law Firm of the Year, Employee Benefits (ERISA Law), US News/Best Lawyers – Best Law Firms (2019)
Band 1, Pennsylvania: Labor & Employment: Employee Benefits & Compensation, Chambers USA (2019, 2020)
