R. Scott Kilgore is a partner in the Labor and Employment, Tax and Corporate Practice Groups. He joined the firm in 1985. Mr. Kilgore chaired Wilmer Cutler's pre-merger employment and compensation counseling practice.
Practice
Mr. Kilgore represents companies and executives on a full range of matters involving employment (particularly regarding executives), executive compensation, and employee benefits.
Mr. Kilgore regularly drafts and negotiates employment, retention, severance and parachute agreements for employers and individuals, both as a part of transactions and as individual advice. He designs, and advises on the implementation of, executive, equity and deferred compensation programs. Mr. Kilgore represents domestic and multinational corporations in the employment and benefits issues arising from acquisitions, dispositions and public offerings. He provides or oversees multidisciplinary advice relating to employees or compensation, including ERISA, tax and securities counseling, as well as the web of employment and disclosure laws that govern the workplace. His clients range in size from individual executives to startups to multinational corporations.
Recent Highlights
- Drafting and negotiating the key employment and compensation documents in the sale of a pioneering marketing company to a multinational corporation
- Representing a CEO with respect to his employment and equity compensation as his company prepares to go public
- Representing a major publishing company in the employment and benefits issues in several acquisitions
- Advising companies and executives with respect to the continuing complexities posed by the deferred compensation rules of Section 409A and with correcting prior compliance issues
- Advising companies with respect to multistate downsizings and layoffs, including WARN Act and severance issues
Professional Activities
Mr. Kilgore is a member of the business, tax (executive compensation) and labor sections of the American Bar Association and the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals. He was the Moderator of the Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Forum on Counsel Connect, an online forum for lawyers, from 1994 to 1998.
Publications
- Rondeau, Patrick J., Kimberly B. Wethly and R. Scott Kilgore, "Best Practices for Option Grants by VC-Backed Companies," Bloomberg Law Reports, (October 2009).
- Kilgore, R. Scott, Laura E. Schneider, and Joanne E. Waters, "Massachusetts: Entering a Market with Independent Contractors - the Perils of Misclassification" in WorldWatch: U.S. Labour and Employment Law, Financier Worldwide (Sept. 2009) at 90.
- Kilgore, R. Scott, "Balancing the Benefits in RIF Compensation," a chapter in Dealing with Reductions in Force: Leading Lawyers on Identifying Options, Meeting Compliance Obligations, and Overcoming Common Challenges (Inside the Minds), published by Aspatore Books (2009).
- Kilgore, R. Scott, and William Schmidt. "Practical Guidance for Compensation Committees." Wall Street Lawyer 8 no. 4 (September 2004):16.
Honors and Awards
- Recognized as a Washington DC leader in employee benefits and executive compensation in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 editions of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers in Business, in which he was designated a Notable Practitioner and credited for his efficiency, for the breadth of his practice and for being "extremely knowledgeable"
- Selected by Washingtonian magazine as one of the top lawyers in Washington DC in the area of tax (for his work on executive compensation), 2007-2011
