America's Leading Lawyers for Business 2006: Employment: Employee Benefits

Chambers & Partners has compiled their independent and objective list of America's Leading Lawyers for Business based on comments gathered from thousands of interviews with clients and lawyers from Maine to Hawaii. This guide -- which is designed to reflect market opinion -- contains a view of the firms and attorneys who are considered leaders in their field.

In Chambers' 2006 review of national legal talent in the area of "Employment: Employee Benefits," our Firm and our lawyers are listed among the best in the country.

Chambers' comments:

Illinois Ranking: 2

The Firm: The employee benefits and executive compensation team at this firm is made up of 13 lawyers, including seven partners. The group handles benefits issues such as 401(k) retirement and deferred compensation plans for clients, and it has a reputation for high-end corporate bankruptcies and acquisitions. The team aggressively pursues the interests of its clients, who in turn appreciate the fact that it keeps costs down. The team is also active in ERISA matters and in the pursuance of retrospective relief.

The Lawyers: Vicki Hood is highly regarded for her dynamic and aggressive style of representation. Clients are certainly delighted with her efforts regarding their pension plans and found her "extremely responsive." They felt sure she "knew the law inside out." Her recent work has included the reorganization of benefits systems following much-publicized bankruptcies in the airline and automotive industries. She has also worked on a number of acquisitions in the hotel sector and advised private equity firms on how to make newly formed funds compliant with ERISA.

Clients/Work Highlights: Aon; Hyatt; Forstmann Little; GM Pension Fund; PwC; Hitachi and National Hockey League Players' Association.

Reprinted with permission from Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2006 - www.chambersandpartners.com.