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David R. Lagasse

Member

[email protected]

+1.212.692.6743

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David has extensive experience handling executive compensation issues in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital investments, private equity financing, and other transactional contexts.

On behalf of buyers, sellers, and management teams, David drafts and negotiates the compensation and equity arrangements for senior-level executives that drive and reward performance. He is also skilled at structuring and implementing deferred compensation arrangements, performance bonus plans, option and restricted stock awards, synthetic equity plans and equity participation in limited liability companies, partnerships, and corporations. He is adept at structuring these arrangements to comply with the employment, corporate, tax, employee benefit, and securities law issues inherent in them.

He is also skilled at counseling clients and litigating with respect to a broad range of business issues, with an emphasis on employment law issues as they relate to business disputes and transactions. He assists corporate counsel and human resources personnel to develop strategies and documentation for handling sensitive employee situations.

Experience

  • Representing a large private equity fund in structuring the compensation and equity arrangements for the senior management team in its acquisition of an industrial materials manufacturer. 
  • Representing the senior management team of a marketing information services company in negotiating their employment and equity arrangements in connection with a private equity company’s acquisition.
  • Structuring and implementing a management incentive plan for an international manufacturer. 
  • Representing a public company in connection with modifying its outstanding performance equity awards to comply with Section 409A of the tax code. 
  • Representing a large not-for-profit organization in connection with the investigation of alleged misconduct by a high-level officer. 
  • Negotiating compensation arrangements for senior portfolio and strategy managers with various mutual, private equity, and hedge funds. 
  • Handling an internal investigation concerning alleged kickbacks to employees from a corporation’s vendors. 
  • Winning an arbitration to obtain purchase price adjustments for the principals of a corporation sold to a public company. 
  • Avoiding whistleblower claims from senior members of a manufacturer’s accounting department based on allegedly fraudulent accounting practices.  
  • Represented the Chief Operating Officer of a large telecommunications company in connection with a renewal and renegotiation of his employment agreement and equity awards.
  • Represented a wholesale retailer in connection with negotiating the equity awards granted to its CEO, including drafting and negotiating a restricted stock award, a non-qualified option award, two profit interest awards and multi-party put, call and pre-emption rights agreement.
  • Represented a wholesale retailer in connection with negotiating the equity awards granted to its CEO, including drafting and negotiating a restricted stock award, a non-qualified option award, two profit interest awards and multi-party put, call and pre-emption rights agreement
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viewpoints

The United States and Canada are each other’s largest trade partners with nearly C$3.6 billion/US$2.7 billion worth of goods and services crossing the border each day in 2023.  The United States is the single greatest investor in Canada and Canada was the largest source of foreign direct investment in the United States at the end of 2022.[1]  As commerce in general and employee mobility in particular increases, employers with operations in the United States and Canada may consider a “one-size-fits all” approach to employment, benefits and compensation arrangements. However, despite many similarities, employers should take heed of possible discrepancies across the two countries’ employment landscapes. In this Part II of our series on cross-border hiring, we discuss health benefits and retirement benefits.

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Interest in cryptocurrency investments has been increasing at a rapid pace and employers don't want to be left behind. In this webinar, team members from Mintz’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Practice break down key considerations employers face towards designing compensation programs to pay employees in the form of cryptocurrencies.

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In recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (the “Release”), the Department of Labor addressed cryptocurrencies as 401(k) plan investments.  To the surprise of some and the delight of others, the Department did not shut the door on these investments.  It did, however, counsel extreme caution.

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In this webinar, members from our Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Practice discuss the latest in how employers must continue to manage their benefits and compensation programs to attract and retain talent. Hear our attorneys talk about 2022 trends in benefits and compensation and how companies should address the wide array of compliance issues affecting their programs.
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Mintz’s Annual Employment Law Summit brought together thought leaders to discuss the most pressing issues employers are facing in today’s unprecedented work environment. Attendees heard presentations on the continued impact of COVID-19; social justice and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; recent and anticipated changes to employment laws; and best practices for managing sensitive employee situations.
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On Friday, May 15, 2020, the Small Business Administration, in consultation with the U.Sh Department of the Treasury, released the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan Forgiveness Application. The application is accompanied by instructions on how to complete the application. Together, the application and the instructions answer a number of ambiguities about whether and how an employer will be able to receive forgiveness of all or a portion of a loan received under the PPP.
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Congress has now passed the CORONAVIRUS AID, RELIEF AND ECONOMIC SECURITY ACT OR CARES ACT – Federal government’s Phase III response to the health and economic impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. President Trump has pledged to sign the Act into law immediately.
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News & Press

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Mintz advised Adlumin, Inc., a provider of an enterprise-grade security operations platform, in its acquisition by N-able, Inc. (NYSE: NABL), a global software company helping IT services providers deliver security, remote monitoring and management, and data protection as-a-service solutions.

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Mintz is pleased to announce that 15 attorneys have been named New York Metro Super Lawyers and 12 attorneys have been named New York Metro Rising Stars by Super Lawyers for 2024.

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NEW YORK – Mintz is pleased to announce that 18 attorneys have been named New York Metro Super Lawyers and 11 attorneys have been named New York Metro Rising Stars by Super Lawyers for 2023.

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17 Mintz attorneys have been named New York Metro Super Lawyers and nine Mintz attorneys have been named New York Metro Rising Stars by Super Lawyers for 2022.

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Best Lawyers named 85 Mintz attorneys to its 2018 list of The Best Lawyers in America. In addition, Mintz attorneys Matthew J. Gardella and Samuel M. Tony Starr were named “Lawyer of the Year” in their respective practice areas.
Mintz attorneys represented Seventh Generation, Inc. in its recent sale to Unilever. Based in Vermont, Seventh Generation is a pioneer in corporate responsibility and sustainable product innovations, including plant-based detergents and household cleaners.
Sixteen Mintz attorneys have been named New York Super Lawyers for 2016 and twelve have been named New York Rising Stars. The list will be published in a special advertising supplement in The New York Times Magazine and in a stand-alone magazine, New York Super Lawyers - Metro Edition.
Attorneys from Mintz represented Myriad Genetics, Inc. in its acquisition of Assurex Health, an informatics-based precision medicine company providing treatment decision support to health care providers for mental health patients.
Best Lawyers named 73 Mintz attorneys to its 2017 list of The Best Lawyers in America. Mintz attorneys selected for inclusion in this year’s list span 44 practice areas. 
Thirteen attorneys from Mintz have been named New York Super Lawyers for 2014 and eleven have been named New York Rising Stars. The list will be published in a special advertising supplement in The New York Times Magazine and in a stand-alone magazine, New York Super Lawyers - Metro Edition.
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Events & Speaking

Recognition & Awards

  • Best Lawyers in America: Employment Law – Management, Litigation – Labor & Employment (2011 – 2021)

  • Included on the New York Super Lawyers: Employment & Labor List (2010 – 2024)

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