International Tax & Executive Compensation Lawyer James Klein Joins Pillsbury's New York Office

Most recently a partner with Deloitte Tax LLP, Klein joins Pillsbury's Executive Compensation & Benefits practice as counsel. With a focus on international taxation issues, he has significant capabilities advising on retirement plans, executive compensation, international tax consulting and US and non-US tax and labor issues.

"In the wake of federal reforms in the financial services and healthcare sectors, two industries with which Pillsbury has a long history, we've experienced a significant uptick in executive compensation and tax-related assignments from clients, particularly multinationals," said Susan Serota, head of Pillsbury's Executive Compensation & Benefits practice, who recently was named "New York Best Lawyers Employee Benefits Lawyer of the Year" for 2011. "Moreover, as the global economy continues to recover, more and more of our clients need international tax advice to help them maximize the type of compensation and benefits they offer to their employees while minimizing tax liability. Jim's experience and background makes him extraordinarily well-suited to deliver this kind of counsel to clients. We are delighted to have him join us."

Co-author of BNA's International Pension Planning, Klein has been extremely active in the American Bar Association, previously chairing the ABA Section of Taxation Employee Benefits Committee, that Section's Professional Services Committee and the Tort and Insurance Section Employee Benefits Committee. He was also Chair of the International Pension and Employee Benefits Association.

A graduate of Columbia Law School with an LLM in Taxation from New York University, Klein first got his start as a tax attorney in the Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical) Law Department, where he worked almost exclusively on employee benefits and executive compensation. He then spent several years as a Principal at Towers Perrin (now Towers Watson), before joining Deloitte Tax LLP in 1998 as a client service partner.

Pillsbury's Executive Compensation & Benefits practice is consistently recognized as among the nation's finest with top rankings from Chambers USA, Legal 500, PLC and Best Lawyers/US News & World Report. With more than 19 full-time executive compensation lawyers located in Pillsbury's New York, Washington DC, Virginia, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and San Diego offices, the team advises on the design, implementation and compliance of qualified pension and profit-sharing plans, health and welfare plans; funding of retiree health benefits, implementation of cafeteria plans, COBRA and dependent care issues; fiduciary matters and the tax and ERISA implications of proposed investments; and deferred compensation plans, including the implementation of stock-based compensation arrangements. We represent clients involved in ERISA litigation, relating to both benefits and fiduciary violations, and in administrative proceedings before the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.  The practice also works closely with Pillsbury's top-ranked Tax and Estates, Trusts & Wealth Management teams.

About Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Pillsbury is a full-service law firm with market-leading strengths in the energy, financial services, real estate and technology sectors. With a presence in the world's major financial and technology centers, Pillsbury counsels clients on all aspects of global business and litigation. We work in multidisciplinary teams that allow us to anticipate trends and bring a 360-degree perspective to complex business and legal issues—helping clients to take greater advantage of new opportunities and better mitigate risk. This collaborative work style helps produce the results our clients seek.