Stephanie B Vasconcellos

Practice Areas

Stephanie Vasconcellos is Co-Leader of Mayer Brown's Global Employment & Benefits group. She is a Chambers-ranked attorney with nearly twenty years of experience helping clients navigate complex employee benefits and executive compensation issues. Clients turn to Stephanie for her practical advice, technical expertise, and her ability to efficiently handle their most challenging matters.

Corporate transactions: Stephanie advises public and private companies, both domestic and global, on acquisitions, divestitures, mergers, spin-offs, and IPOs, as well as post-transaction integration and compensation matters. She also advises on golden parachute and other change in control and retention matters, helping ensure smooth transitions during critical transactions.

Compensation arrangements: Stephanie drafts, negotiates, and advises on employment and severance agreements, equity and equity-based arrangements, offer letters, incentive plans, and retention agreements. Stephanie also assists clients in correcting compliance issues with these arrangements, particularly under Section 409A.

Benefits advice: Stephanie counsels clients on designing, implementing, amending, administering, and terminating retirement, health, and welfare plans. She negotiates related services agreements and HIPAA-compliant business associate agreements. She also represents employers in regulatory matters, including appealing employer shared responsibility payment assessments under the Affordable Care Act, correcting plan errors through IRS and DOL voluntary correction programs, and responding to participant claims and appeals.