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Profile Picture

Stephen W. Fackler

Stephen
Fackler

Partner

CONTACT INFO

sfackler@gibsondunn.com

TEL:+1 650.849.5385

FAX:+1 650.849.5085

Palo Alto

1881 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304-1211 USA

New York

200 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10166-0193 USA

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PRACTICE

Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Labor and Employment Mergers and Acquisitions Private Equity Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance Tax Technology Transactions

BIOGRAPHY

Stephen W. Fackler is a partner in the Firm’s Palo Alto and New York offices and Co-Chair of Gibson Dunn’s Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Practice Group.  Mr. Fackler has extensive experience nationwide advising public and private companies, private equity funds and boards of directors on compensation and benefits matters.  He also regularly advises senior executives on their employment and severance arrangements, and directors in connection with compensation and indemnification arrangements.

His practice focuses on:

  • Designing and negotiating executive and director compensation arrangements.
  • Designing and implementing stock and other incentive plans.
  • Advising public company clients, their boards of directors and compensation committees on corporate governance and legal compliance involving a comprehensive range of compensation plans.
  • Advising companies, boards and management teams on compensation and benefits in mergers and acquisitions.
  • Advising on deferred compensation plans, 401(k) plans, other types of retirement plans, health and welfare plans and fringe benefits.

Mr. Fackler serves as Chair of the Certification Council for the Certified Equity Professional Institute, the leading certification program in the United States for stock plan professionals.  He also serves as outside counsel for the Global Equity Organization, the leading international trade association for stock plan professionals.

Mr. Fackler received his law degree from Stanford University in 1984.  He earned an Honours B.A. from St. Johns’ College, Oxford University in 1981. He completed his undergraduate education at Harvard University where he received an A.B., magna cum laude in History in 1979 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Mr. Fackler has been selected by Chambers and Partners as a Leading Employee Benefits Lawyer each year since 2006 (the first year in which the category was included) in its publication “America’s Leading Business Lawyers”, and has been ranked in Band 1 (the highest band) for the last few years.  He was named a ‘Leading US Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Lawyer’ by The Legal 500 in its inaugural 2007 and subsequent editions.  He has been honored as one of the Top 20 Most Powerful Lawyers for Employee Benefits and ERISA in Human Resource Executive magazine and Lawdragon every year from 2012 – 2018.  Mr. Fackler has also been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America©, Top Attorneys in Northern California and Northern California Super Lawyers.

EDUCATION

Stanford University - 1984 Juris Doctor

University of Oxford - 1981 Bachelor of Arts

Harvard University - 1979 Bachelor of Arts

ADMISSIONS

California Bar

New York Bar

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Firm News - June 1, 2022 | Gibson Dunn Earns 101 Top-Tier Rankings in Chambers USA 2022
Firm News - November 15, 2021 | Fourteen Gibson Dunn Partners Named Top Employment Lawyers
Firm News - May 20, 2021 | Gibson Dunn Earns 94 Top-Tier Rankings in Chambers USA 2021
Firm News - December 11, 2020 | Eleven Gibson Dunn Partners Named Top Employment Lawyers
Firm News - April 24, 2020 | Gibson Dunn Earns 84 Top-Tier Rankings in Chambers USA 2020
Client Alert - March 25, 2020 | Tax-Favored Financial and Other Assistance to Employees in the Face of COVID-19
Client Alert - November 6, 2019 | IRS Updates U.S. Retirement Plan COLAs for 2020
Firm News - August 15, 2019 | Gibson Dunn Lawyers Recognized in the Best Lawyers in America® 2020
Firm News - April 2, 2019 | Six Gibson Dunn Partners Named Top Employment Lawyers
Webcasts - September 6, 2018 | Webcast: IPO and Public Company Readiness: Focus on Executive Compensation
Client Alert - August 30, 2018 | IRS Issues Initial Selective Guidance on New Section 162(m) Provisions, including Transition Rules
Firm News - August 15, 2018 | 20 Gibson Dunn Partners Named Lawyers of the Year
Firm News - June 21, 2018 | Gibson Dunn Partners Named Top Employment Lawyers
Firm News - May 3, 2018 | Gibson Dunn Earns 70 Top-Tier Rankings in Chambers USA 2018
Client Alert - January 31, 2018 | IRS Issues First “Required Amendments List” for Tax-Qualified Retirement Plans Under New Program
Client Alert - November 10, 2017 | Updates to Taxation of Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Under the Proposed House Tax Legislation
Client Alert - November 8, 2017 | Potential Changes in Taxation of Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Under the Proposed House Tax Legislation
Webcasts - January 26, 2017 | Webcast: Key Legal Issues in Compensation and Benefits in M&A Transactions
Client Alert - October 21, 2015 | U.S. Retirement Plan COLAs Unchanged for 2016
Client Alert - March 31, 2015 | U.S. Internal Revenue Service Releases Final Section 162(m) Regulations; Primary Impact Is on Equity Awards Granted by Newly Public Corporations
Client Alert - November 5, 2014 | Qualified Plan Limitations Updated for 2015
Client Alert - November 19, 2013 | 2013 Year-End U.S. Retirement and Welfare Plan Update: Action Items for Plan Sponsors
Client Alert - November 13, 2013 | Qualified Plan Limitations Updated for 2014
Client Alert - July 22, 2013 | M&A Report – Summer 2013
Client Alert - July 12, 2013 | Supreme Court’s Defense of Marriage Act Decision Will Have Profound Impact on Employee Benefit Plans
Client Alert - November 19, 2012 | Tax Planning: Accelerating Employee Compensation into 2012
Client Alert - September 14, 2012 | December 31, 2012 Deadline for Amending Certain Severance and Other Arrangements for Section 409A Compliance
Client Alert - July 9, 2012 | Transportation/Student Loan Bill Includes Significant Pension Funding Relief and PBGC Premium Increases
Client Alert - June 26, 2012 | Lidow v. Superior Court: In Employment Law Context, California Declines to Apply Delaware’s Corporate Internal Affairs Doctrine
Client Alert - October 20, 2011 | Qualified Plan Limitations Updated for 2012
Client Alert - November 1, 2010 | Qualified Plan Limitations Unchanged for 2011
Client Alert - December 22, 2009 | Congress Extends and Expands COBRA “Subsidy”
Client Alert - October 21, 2009 | IRS Qualified Plan Limitations Unchanged for 2010
Client Alert - May 27, 2009 | Deadlines for Amending Tax-Qualified Retirement Plans and Executive Bonus Arrangements Rapidly Approaching: Immediate Action Required
Client Alert - April 3, 2009 | Important New Guidance Issued on COBRA “Subsidy”
Client Alert - February 24, 2009 | Federal Stimulus Bill Makes Major Changes to COBRA That Will Require Immediate Action
Client Alert - December 3, 2008 | 2008 Employee Benefits Deadlines Require Immediate Attention
Client Alert - November 14, 2008 | Unprecedented Challenges for Executive Compensation Require Immediate Planning
Client Alert - October 30, 2008 | Code Section 457A: Ending Deferral of Compensation for Managers of Offshore Hedge Funds
Client Alert - October 27, 2008 | Dealing with Underwater Stock Options
Client Alert - October 23, 2008 | IRS Releases Updated Qualified Plan Limitations for 2009
Client Alert - June 26, 2008 | Final Section 409A Amendment Deadline and End of Transition Period Rapidly Approaching; Immediate Action Required
Client Alert - December 5, 2007 | IRS Issues Voluntary Correction Program for Section 409A Operational Violations
Client Alert - October 23, 2007 | IRS Extends Most Section 409A Transition Relief to December 31, 2008
Client Alert - October 19, 2007 | IRS Releases Updated Qualified Plan Limitations for 2008
Client Alert - August 15, 2007 | Delaware Court Decision Highlights Importance of Stock Option Plan Language in Corporate Transactions
Client Alert - June 8, 2007 | IRS Issues Helpful Guidance Excluding Principal Financial Officers from Coverage Under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code
Client Alert - April 26, 2007 | Nine Action Steps to Implement the Section 409A Deferred Compensation Regulations Before the Deadline of December 31, 2007
Client Alert - April 16, 2007 | IRS Releases Final Regulations Interpreting the Code Section 415 Limits on Benefits Under Tax-Qualified Retirement Plans
Client Alert - April 11, 2007 | IRS Releases Final Section 409A Regulations on Deferred Compensation
Client Alert - February 9, 2007 | February 28 Deadline to Take Advantage of IRS Settlement Program for Stock Options and SARs Subject to Section 409A That Were Exercised in 2006
Client Alert - January 18, 2007 | Senate Finance Committee Proposals Would Impact Deferred Compensation
Client Alert - December 7, 2006 | 2006 Employee Benefits Deadlines Require Immediate Attention
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