Marissa R. Sims

Marissa Sims advises both public and private sector clients on a broad array of employee benefit and executive compensation matters.

Marissa serves as executive compensation counsel to late-stage private, newly public, and mature public companies, playing an active role in advising their boards of directors, compensation committees and senior executives. She regularly partners with clients and their advisors in designing, negotiating, implementing, and maintaining compensation plans and arrangements. Her expertise includes: equity, annual and long-term incentive plans; employee stock purchase plans (domestic and global); nonqualified deferred compensation plans; director compensation plans; severance plans and arrangements; fringe benefit arrangements; and employment, consulting, restrictive covenant, retention and change in control agreements.

Marissa is knowledgeable on best practices, market trends, proxy advisory firm recommendations, and the evolving tax and securities regulatory landscape. She has extensive experience advising clients with executive compensation disclosure matters, including in connection with initial public offerings, proxy and periodic reporting obligations, Section 16 and transaction-related filings. Marissa also advises clients in connection with all employee benefits and executive compensation-related aspects of complex corporate transactions, including all phases of public and private company mergers and acquisitions, as well as day-to-day benefit plan administration.

Practice Areas

Prior Experience

• Winston & Strawn, Associate

Education

Awards

• The Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America
  • Recognized in the areas of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, Labor and Employment Law - Management, Labor and Employment Law - Employee, and Corporate Law

Professional & Community Involvement

• Public Interest Law Initiative Fellowship with the Community Economic Development Program of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri
• Teach For America corps member in St. Louis

Press Releases

Publications

• Co-Author, “The Impact on Equity Compensation Tax Withholding of the SEC’s New T+1 Settlement Cycle,” Insights: The Corporate & Securities Law Advisor, Volume 38, Number 8, August 2024