About Shira A. Selengut

Shira Selengut is a seasoned advisor providing comprehensive and strategic counsel on a wide spectrum of employment, employee benefits and executive compensation matters. With a practice that primarily focuses on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), Shira is trusted by clients to navigate them through ERISA's complex and ever-changing mandates. Her experience also extends to advising on employment, employee benefits and executive compensation aspects of US and cross-border corporate transactions, including reorganizations and restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and funding transactions, and financing arrangements.

Broad perspective informed by diverse experience

Adept at cutting through the complex requirements of ERISA and its related regulations, Shira is valued for her ability to offer clear and practical guidance on maintaining compliance with ERISA. Financial institutions and private investment funds turn to her for counsel in various matters, including the application of ERISA's plan asset, fiduciary responsibility and prohibited transaction rules. She also advises clients with respect to ERISA-related concerns in financing transactions, including lenders and borrowers in structured loan facilities, as well as underwriters, issuers, dealers, collateral managers and investors in asset-backed securities, covered bonds, collateralized loan obligations, derivatives and other structured finance transactions.

With respect to executive compensation and governance matters, Shira is well-versed in representing the interests of public and private companies and private equity firms. She advises on the design and implementation of annual and long-term incentive compensation plans; employment, consulting and separation agreements; severance and retention arrangements; and equity and equity-based incentive compensation arrangements. She also counsels clients on the tax implications of their compensation structures and provides guidance on the application of securities laws, labor and employment laws, and other laws governing hiring, workforce reduction, restrictive covenants and related issues.

In the context of corporate transactions, Shira leverages her knowledge of relevant laws and regulations to steer clients through employment, employee benefits and executive compensation issues with proficiency. When negotiating key transaction documents, she draws on her extensive experience and offers a well-rounded perspective in addressing these issues.

Prior to joining Katten, Shira was a senior counsel in the employment and benefits group of an international law firm and, before that, worked in the tax group of a US-based multinational law firm. She also worked as an auditor in an international accounting firm prior to attending law school. She has frequently delivered presentations to colleagues on a wide variety of employment, employee benefits and executive compensation issues and related legal developments.

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Practice Focus

  • ERISA compliance
  • Labor and employment, including employment contracts
  • Executive compensation plans and arrangements, including design and implementation
  • Employment, employee benefits and executive compensation components of corporate deals

Representative Experience

  • Represented an international software company in connection with the $2.4 billion acquisition of a cloud-based human resources software company. *
  • Represented an Ohio-based global industrial packaging company in connection with its agreement to acquire a recycled paperboard and packaging solutions company for approximately $1.8 billion. *
  • Represented a global IT services provider in connection with a $14 billion Reverse Morris Trust transaction. *
  • Represented an Oklahoma-based provider of emergency power restoration services for public utilities in connection with a recapitalization transaction. *
  • Represented a newly-formed holding company for a digital media company in connection with its issuance of more than $300 million of senior and junior preferred equity to funds controlled by an investment firm and co-investors. *
  • Represented an international vehicle fleet leasing and servicing company in connection with the divestiture of its US-based business. *
  • Represented a Luxembourg limited liability company in acquiring 90 percent of the issued and outstanding capital stock of an indirect owner of a terminal operator at the Port of Los Angeles. *
  • Represented a UK-based private equity and venture capital firm in connection with its acquisition of a US-based supplier of vended equipment in the travel and leisure industry. *
  • Represented the infrastructure fund of a US-based multinational financial services company in connection with its acquisition of a storage terminal business with facilities in Louisiana and Georgia. *
  • Represented an international exchange organization in connection with its $6 million investment in the Series A funding round of a New York-based financial technology start-up. *
  • Represented a multinational pharmaceutical company in connection with the $1.675 billion divestment of its blood transfusion diagnostics unit. *
  • Represented the subsidiary of an international beverage company in connection with an approximately $27 billion three-way merger. *
  • Represented a private equity firm on the purchase of a gold mine in Nevada. *
  • Represented a Chinese biological technology company in connection with its £24.5 million acquisition of a 70 percent stake in a manufacturer of contacts and intraocular lens materials. *
  • Represented a British financial institution in connection with the £100 million sale of its international private banking business in several countries and the approximately £8 million sale of its Miami international private banking business. *
  • Represented a leading provider of news and information-based tools in connection with its acquisition of all of the issued and to be issued share capital of a legal publishing company and its subsidiaries. *
* Experience prior to Katten

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Practices
Education
  • Fordham University School of Law, JD, cum laude
  • Rutgers Business School, BS, highest honors
Bar Admissions
  • New Jersey
  • New York