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Thomas Z. Reicher is a partner in the Cooley Business department and the head of the Compensation & Benefits practice group. He is resident in the Firm's San Francisco office.
Mr. Reicher specializes in the areas of employee benefit plans, equity compensation plans and executive compensation. Since 1980 he has advised employers with respect to the design and implementation of all types of retirement and deferred compensation plans, including 401(k) plans, ESOPs, defined benefit plans and cash balance pension plans. In the area of medical and other welfare benefit plans, he has assisted employers with the establishment and administration of self-funded health plans, flexible benefit plans, dependent care plans and a wide range of severance benefit plans.
Mr. Reicher has assisted both employers and their executives with the design and negotiation of individual compensation arrangements involving both cash and equity components, including various forms of non-qualified deferred compensation plans (SERPs), incentive compensation plans, change of control and other "golden parachute" agreements, and equity compensation plans. He also has extensive experience with the structuring and negotiation of individual employment agreements.
Mr. Reicher has advised employers and investment managers and advisors with respect to ERISA fiduciary responsibilities in the operation of employee benefit plans and the investment of the assets of those plans. He has also assisted asset managers with the creation of new investment products for employee benefit plans, including obtaining necessary exemptions and advisory opinions from the U.S. Department of Labor.
In addition to his compensation and benefits work, Mr. Reicher has had extensive experience with litigation involving employee and executive benefits, including disputes over executive employment agreements and executive benefits, welfare benefit plan coverage, retirement benefits, retiree health benefits, severance pay and ERISA preemption of various state laws.
Mr. Reicher has been recognized by Chambers USA in the category of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation in California in 2009 and 2010. Since 1989, he has been named in The Best Lawyers in America for his employee benefits work.
Mr. Reicher joined Cooley in 1997. Prior to that time, he was a partner with the law firm of Day, Berry & Howard in Hartford, Connecticut where he served as co-chair of that firm's Employment and Employee Benefits Department.
Mr. Reicher received a J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1976. He received a M.A. degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1973 and a B.A., summa cum laude, from Amherst College in 1970, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He is a co-author of Reductions in Force and Statutory Stock Options, portfolios published by BNA in its Tax Management Portfolio Series, and of the "Equity Compensation" chapter in Advising High-Technology Companies, a treatise published by PLI in its Corporate and Securities Law Library.
Education- Stanford Law School
JD, 1976 - University of California, Berkeley
MA, 1973 - Amherst College
BA, 1970, Summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
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