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 as a ‘Leading US Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Lawyer’ by The Legal 500 in its inaugural 2007 and subsequent editions.  He was named among the Top 20 Most Powerful Lawyers for Employee Benefits and ERISA in Human Resource Executive magazine and Lawdragon every year from 2012 – 2017.  Mr. Fackler has also been recognized in 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2019 by The Best Lawyers in America©, Top Attorneys in Northern California and Northern California Super Lawyers.