Debevoise & Plimpton LLP announced today that Sarah Burke has joined the firm’s New York office as counsel in the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group. In her new role, Ms. Burke will advise on the employment and executive compensation-related aspects of private equity and strategic M&A transactions.

Ms. Burke brings to the firm more than a decade of significant executive compensation and employee benefits experience, which includes advising on nuanced employee benefit plans, employment agreements, equity incentive arrangements and HR aspects of both strategic public and private equity deals.

“Our group continues to see a steady increase in demand as strategic and private equity clients see a pickup in their deal pipelines,” Jonathan F. Lewis, Chair of the firm’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group. “Sarah’s deep understanding of the employment and executive compensation-related aspects of transactions strengthens the firm’s ability to provide holistic M&A advice to our clients.”

Ms. Burke previously worked in the Executive Compensation and Benefits Group of another international law firm. She received her B.A. from Northwestern University in 2005, and her J.D. from Northwestern University in 2010.

Debevoise’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group practices at the intersection of corporate governance, securities laws, tax, ERISA and an intricate matrix of labor and employment regimes, and it does so while grappling with some of the most sensitive and important issues in major corporate transactions. The Group’s experience is extremely broad, ranging from addressing the human resources and liability issues that arise in M&A transactions, to advising on critical aspects of corporate governance, to designing, negotiating and implementing employment contracts and short- and long-term compensation plans and programs, to navigating and developing creative solutions for the challenging ERISA issues that permeate Debevoise’s investment funds practice.