Shira Aviner Selengut

Shira Selengut is an attorney in Holland & Knight's New York office. A seasoned advisor, Ms. Selengut provides comprehensive and strategic counsel on a wide spectrum of employment, employee benefits and executive compensation matters.

With a practice that primarily focuses on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), Ms. Selengut is trusted by clients to navigate them through ERISA's complex and ever-changing mandates. Her experience also extends to advising on employment, employee benefits and executive compensation aspects of U.S. and cross-border corporate transactions, including reorganizations and restructurings, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity and funding transactions, and financing arrangements.

Adept at cutting through the complex requirements of ERISA and its related regulations, Ms. Selengut is valued for her ability to offer clear and practical guidance on maintaining compliance with ERISA. Financial institutions and private investment funds turn to her for counsel in various matters, including the application of ERISA's plan assets, fiduciary responsibility and prohibited transaction rules. She also advises clients with respect to ERISA-related concerns in financing transactions, including lenders and borrowers in structured loan facilities, as well as underwriters, issuers, dealers, collateral managers and investors in asset-backed securities, covered bonds, collateralized loan obligations, derivatives and other structured finance transactions.

With respect to executive compensation and governance matters, Ms. Selengut is well-versed in representing the interests of public and private companies and private equity firms. She advises on the design and implementation of annual and long-term incentive compensation plans; employment, consulting and separation agreements; severance and retention arrangements; and equity and equity-based incentive compensation arrangements. She also counsels clients on the tax implications of their compensation structures and provides guidance on the application of securities laws, labor and employment laws, and other laws governing hiring, workforce reduction, restrictive covenants and related issues.

In the context of corporate transactions, Ms. Selengut leverages her knowledge of relevant laws and regulations to steer clients through employment, employee benefits and executive compensation issues with proficiency. When negotiating key transaction documents, she draws on her extensive experience and offers a well-rounded perspective in addressing these issues.

In addition to her legal practice, Ms. Selengut frequently delivers presentations on a wide variety of employment, employee benefits and executive compensation issues and related legal developments.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Selengut worked as an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney in the New York office of an international law firm. She also worked as an auditor in an international accounting firm prior to attending law school.