Smelley, David L.

Charmaine Slack advises senior management, boards of directors, and compensation committees of public and private entities on a wide variety of executive compensation and equity arrangements. She counsels clients on the diverse compensation issues that arise in substantial domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, leveraged buyouts, and private equity and other fund investments in a broad range of industries. Her practice encompasses the design and preparation of creative and complex incentive structures in fund investments and acquisitions. She regularly advises on CEO and other senior executive employment, change in control and related severance arrangements, equity performance incentive programs, deferred compensation plans, and board of directors' compensation programs and related corporate governance matters. She also provides technical guidance on tax and securities rules affecting compensation and benefits and the broad spectrum of legal and business issues that companies face in designing and managing executive compensation programs.

Representative transactions include: Nextel Communications' merger-of-equals with Sprint, HealthMarkets' acquisition by Blackstone, CalEast's (LaSalle Investment Management) acquisition of Centerpoint (formerly a publicly traded REIT), Bank of Ireland Asset Management's acquisition of Guggenheim Alternative Asset Management, Ospraie Management's acquisition of ConAgra Trade, and IMG Worldwide's acquisition by Forstmann Little.

Other companies with which Charmaine has worked on substantial matters include CBS, Hewitt Associates, J.F. Lehman & Company, Reader's Digest, Sirius XM Radio, and WL Ross & Co.

Charmaine is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the State Bar of Georgia. She is a member of the board of directors of Girls Incorporated of New York City.