Christopher L. McLean

Biography

Christopher is a part of Kaufman & Canoles’ ESOPs & Employee Benefits Group where he advises clients on a broad range of issues relating to qualified and nonqualified plans and corporate succession transactions. Christopher works with corporations and their shareholders in a wide range of M&A as well as exit transactions, including leveraged buyouts, stock sales and corporate redemptions, mergers, reorganizations, asset sales and purchases, and generational transfers.

Christopher’s employee benefits practice focuses on the design, implementation, maintenance and compliance of employee stock ownership plans. Christopher works with both ESOP Sponsors and ESOP Trustees in initial stock purchase transactions, second stage transactions and sale transactions of successful ESOP companies. Christopher also advises ESOP Sponsors in the management of mature ESOPs including evaluating repurchase obligation options, resolving administrative issues, counseling on acquisitions and secondary purchase transactions, and coordinating and designing executive compensation plans complimentary to ESOPs.

Christopher’s executive compensation practice involves a variety of nonqualified executive compensation plans. Christopher works with corporations in the design, adoption, implementation and compliance of nonqualified plans which have involved phantom stock, stock appreciation rights and other synthetic equity, stock options, restricted stock, deferred compensation and other executive compensation arrangements. Christopher also represents executives in the negotiation of executive compensation arrangements and employment agreements, taking an inclusive approach so to ensure the compensation structure is a part of the executive’s broader trust and estate planning.