Maura Ann McBreen

Practice Areas

Compensation & Employment Law

Practice Focus

Employee benefits (single employer, multi-employer and multinational) and executive compensation legal practice.

Practice Description

Ms. McBreen designs and drafts tax-qualified retirement plans and addresses operational and fiduciary issues as they arise under such plans, including qualification, deduction and tax issues. She assists with the income tax, securities law, and accounting issues raised by nonqualified deferred compensation programs, including issues under Code Sections 162(m), 280G, 409A and 457A, and designs such programs. Ms. McBreen drafts all types of stock-related and incentive compensation plans and negotiates executive employment agreements. She has extensive experience in issues arising in corporate transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions, including the division of employee benefit liabilities, the assumption and transfer of employee benefit plan assets and the negotiation of plan liability provisions in connection with corporate financing agreements.

Publications, Presentations and Articles

Ms. McBreen is the:

• Author of a quarterly column “Compensation and Fringe Benefits”, Corporate Taxation, and
• Co-author, Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education Handbook on Employee Benefits Law.

Professional Affiliations

Ms. McBreen is a member of the American Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association. She is a former member of the Illinois State Bar Association Employee Benefits Law Section Council and the Chicago Bar Association Committee on Employee Benefits. She is a member of the Board of Contributing Editors and Advisors, Corporate Taxation.

Awards, Honors & Skills

Ms. McBreen is a former member of the Firm’s governing Policy Committee and the Firm’s Human Resources and Benefits Committee. She has also served as the administrative partner on the Management Committee of the Chicago Office. She is a member of the Steering Committee of her regional practice group, the North American Compensation and Employment Law Practice Group, and a member of the Chicago Office Client Relations Committee. Ms. McBreen is listed in Best Lawyers in America and the Leading Lawyer Network. She has been selected by Chambers USA as a leader in her field.

Education & Bar Admittance

Ms. McBreen is a graduate of Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA, (J.D., 1975 – 1978) and Smith College, Northampton, MA, (A.B., cum laude, with high honors in English, 1971 – 1975). She was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1978 and to the United States Tax Court in 1992.

Pro Bono & Community Involvement

Ms. McBreen is a member of the Board of Directors of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Board of Advisors of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Board of Directors of the Juvenile Protective Association. She is also a member of The Economic Club of Chicago.