Our attorneys have handled all aspects of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), from inception to termination and everything in between. Our law firm has worked with ESOPs of small businesses with fewer than 25 participants and very large corporation ESOPs with thousands of participants. Because all ESOPs are governed by federal law (ERISA), our lawyers are able to represent ESOP companies or ESOP Trustees in our home states of Wisconsin and Minnesota, throughout the Midwest in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, and on a nationwide basis.
- Preparation and review of documents for an ESOP transaction;
- Counseling on fiduciary responsibilities as an ESOP Trustee;
- Preparation and amendment of ESOP plan documents, summary plan descriptions, distribution policies, unsolicited offer policies and other plan-related documents;
- Preparation of loan documents related to ESOP exempt loans;
- Counseling on ESOP tax consequences, including S Corp and Section 1042 elections;
- Preparation of IRS ESOP filings for determination letter requests and formal correction requests through the IRS’s correction programs;
- Counseling on ESOP companies in third-party merger and acquisition situations; and
- ESOP litigation services.
Our attorneys have developed relationships with the service providers necessary to fully establish and maintain an ESOP, including valuation experts, record keepers, third party administrators, accounting firms and lenders. We are able to recommend service providers when requested, and are also able to work seamlessly with other service providers with whom the client already has a relationship.
Finally, we are proud to be a resource for ESOP education. Through authoring articles, speaking on podcasts, presenting at conferences and creating ESOP education videos , our goal is to make sure that business owners and/or their advisors can truly understand: 1) what an ESOP is; and 2) whether it might be a good fit for their business.
If you want to get more questions answered about ESOPs, submit a contact form here or contact:
ESOP Informational Videos
The following videos describe various aspects of ESOPs, including what an ESOP candidate looks like as well as comments from business owners who used ESOPs as their succession strategy and more.