Casey Knapp

Practice Areas

Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation

Career

Casey Knapp is a partner and vice chair of the firm’s Business Law Department who leverages the firm’s cross-disciplinary platform — including its Innovative Technology and Health Care & Life Sciences Sector teams — to deliver business-focused, strategic advice related to the design and implementation of competitive executive compensation and employee benefit programs. Her clients regularly remark that they appreciate Casey’s practical, creative, and business-focused approach. Casey’s work in the executive compensation area includes assisting clients with the design and implementation of equity incentive plans, phantom stock plans, non-qualified deferred compensation plans, and executive employment and severance agreements. She also regularly advises clients on the application of Internal Revenue Code sections 409A and 280G, helping clients structure arrangements and correct errors to minimize tax exposure and avoid costly penalties. Last year, Casey counseled more than 100 privately-held companies — including numerous private equity portfolio companies — on the strategic design and implementation of their equity incentive arrangements, phantom stock plans, sophisticated bonus plans, and executive employment agreements. Casey’s work with qualified retirement plans includes assisting clients with the design and implementation of 401(k) plans, profit sharing plans, and pension plans. She frequently advises clients on complex 401(k) plan issues, including advice related to implementing student loan matching contribution programs under the SECURE 2.0 Act, integrating plans following change in control transactions, addressing retirement plan challenges specific to private equity portfolio companies, tax consequences of contributions to and distributions from employer-sponsored retirement plans, and complying with evolving IRS and DOL regulations and correction programs. Casey provides continuing, year-after-year employee benefits support to multiple members of the Fortune 50, serving as a day-to-day strategic benefits advisor embedded in client legal teams. As part of this work, she provides ongoing weekly support to an aerospace industry client that sponsors one of the largest 401(k) plans in the United States. Casey’s work in the health and welfare space centers around guiding employers through critical compliance and business challenges affecting group health and welfare benefit plans and advising employers on the complicated welfare plan issues that arise in the context of change in control transactions, including MEWA avoidance, successor employer issues under COBRA, and benefits transition issues. In addition to her traditional executive compensation and employee benefits work, Casey frequently works with members of the firm’s Transactions Practice to advise clients on the executive compensation and employee benefits issues arising in mergers and acquisitions, regularly serving as dedicated benefits counsel on M&A transactions across a range of industries including technology, healthcare, and manufacturing. Casey also provides transactional support directly to clients and other law firms that are based outside of the United States or do not have robust executive compensation and employee benefits teams, enabling deal teams to seamlessly address benefits diligence and integration issues without delays to transaction timelines.

Professional Memberships

o American Bar Association

o Wisconsin Bar Association

o Milwaukee Bar Association

Education

Awards