Seyfarth Shaw Adds Prominent Employee Benefits Attorneys Henry C. Blackiston and Arthur S. Meyers to Partnership

Chicago, IL (January 17, 2006) - - Seyfarth Shaw LLP, one of America’s leading full service law firms, today announced that Arthur S. Meyers and Henry C. Blackiston have joined the firm as partners in the Employee Benefits Practice Group.  Meyers will be resident in the firm’s Boston office and Blackiston will be resident in New York. Previously, Meyers was a partner at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge. Blackiston was previously a senior partner at Shearman & Sterling in the Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Practice Group, a group he founded and led for years.  

Meyers’ practice focuses on advising publicly traded and private corporations on issues of executive compensation and employee benefits, including qualified retirement plans, welfare benefit plans, nonqualified deferred compensation, and employee stock ownership plans. He advises on the tax, corporate law, accounting, employment law and securities aspects of equity compensation plans, including nonqualified stock options, incentive stock options, restricted stock, employee stock purchase plans, and stock appreciation rights. He also negotiates and drafts executive employment, consulting, severance and change of control agreements, and provides advice on all related matters. In addition, he structures and documents nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements and their funding vehicles, including responses to 409A deferred compensation rules.

Blackiston’s practice is focused on the tax, ERISA, employment law, corporate law and SEC aspects of all types of executive compensation and employee benefits programs. He has considerable experience in negotiation and preparation of employment contracts and termination agreements for executives. He has represented a public pension plan, corporations, non-profit organizations, family offices and individuals in a broad spectrum of issues in the executive compensation and employee benefits field, including corporate downsizing and fiduciary questions relating to the establishment and management of employee benefit plans. He has also advised on the employee benefits aspects of large merger and acquisition transactions.

“We are pleased to welcome Art and Henry to the firm and to the practice group,” noted Peter C. Miller, chair of the firm’s Employee Benefits Group. “They are both very well-credentialed and well-respected in the field of employee benefits and executive compensation. They are both known as highly experienced and trusted advisors to both clients and fellow attorneys. With Art as our lead Boston benefits partner and Henry as our lead benefits partner in New York, we will have immediate additional depth and expertise to our national group. We look forward to working with them.”

Seyfarth Shaw’s Employee Benefits Group is one of the largest and most diverse employee benefits and executive compensation practices in the United States. The Group’s attorneys offer clients a wealth of experience including retirement plans, welfare benefit plans, executive compensation and incentive arrangements, employee stock ownership plans, corporate transactions and restructuring, multiemployer plans and ERISA/employee benefits litigation.

Meyers received his B.A. from the University of Michigan, and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. He is the co-chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, and serves on various Employee Benefits Committees of the American Bar Association.

“Seyfarth Shaw’s commitment to expand its employee benefits group both nationally and in Boston offers me a broad platform to grow my practice and better serve clients,” said Meyers. “I am looking forward to working closely with my new colleagues to further strengthen the presence and reputation of the firm’s employee benefits group.”

Blackiston received his A.B. from Princeton University and earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. In addition, he has a strong commitment to pro bono work as a member and advisor to the Museum of the City of New York, as well as counsel to the Museum for African Art and International House.

"I am delighted with my new opportunity at Seyfarth Shaw," said Blackiston. "The firm's national presence and expanding focus in the New York market offers me a great platform to help grow the executive compensation and employee benefits franchise in New York - - in the same way that the firm has successfully done elsewhere."

Seyfarth Shaw has over 625 attorneys located in nine offices throughout the United States including Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento as well as Brussels, Belgium.  Seyfarth Shaw provides a broad range of legal services in the areas of labor and employment, employee benefits, litigation and business services.   The firm’s practice reflects virtually every industry and segment of the country’s business and social fabric. Clients include over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, newspapers and other media, hotels, health care organizations, airlines and railroads. The firm also represents a number of federal, state, and local governmental and educational entities.  For more information, please visit www.seyfarth.com.

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