Experience 

Maureen Gorman is a partner in the Palo Alto office of Mayer Brown who focuses on executive compensation and employee benefits matters.  Her work includes advising on tax and benefit issues in both domestic and international contexts, counseling on ERISA fiduciary issues, controversy work involving IRS and DOL audits, and all nature of transactional work, including M&A, joint ventures and securitizations.  Her work frequently requires interdisciplinary efforts with corporate, securities and tax specialists,  In particular, in the last few years she has seen a sharp growth in the intersection of executive compensation and tax controversy.

Prior to joining Mayer Brown in 1986, Maureen worked with the Joint Committee on Taxation, in Washington, DC, and with a Washington law firm. Between 1981 and 1982, she served as Law Clerk to The Honorable Warren W. Eginton, US District Court for the District of Connecticut. In addition, she has held faculty positions as Adjunct Professor with the University of Chicago Law School (Spring 1992) and the Boston University Law School (Fall 1991).  Maureen has been listed in the publication Best Lawyers in America for over a dozen years.

Notable Engagements 

• Advised non-US client with US operations on application of Code Section 409A to all of their foreign deferred compensation plans.
• Advised foreign majority shareholder on corporate and individual tax consequences of grant of options on foreign parent stock to employees of US subsidiary.
• Consulted on tax issues relating to backdating of stock options, (often involved coordination among some combination of benefits, tax controversy, securities and litigation attorneys).
• Successfully represented Fortune 500 company in DOL audit alleging significant fiduciary breaches in connection with company’s defined contribution plan.
• Achieved very favorable result for a financial institution in an Internal Revenue Service 162(m) audit of a complex executive compensation program in which the IRS alleged that compensation paid did not fall within a category of compensation exempt from Code Section 162(m).
• Advised large corporate employer on employment tax and benefits issues associated with use of offshore contingent workforce.
• Advised non-US telecommunications client on issues associated with repatriation of non-US assets into a US corporation that was proposed to be sold to an ESOP and then make subchapter Selection (involved teamwork with subchapter C and international tax specialists).

Education 

Yale Law School, JD, 1981 • College of William and Mary, BA, 1978; Phi Beta Kappa

Admitted

• Illinois, 1987
• District of Columbia, 1983
• California (pending)