Dan Janich is Of Counsel with the firm’s Chicago office. For more than 25 years he has concentrated his practice in ERISA covered employee benefits, executive and equity compensation and employment law counseling and litigation.

Clients hire Dan because he is a problem solver, frequently exceeding their expectations in addressing their legal issues in all aspects of employment, employee benefits and executive compensation law.

Dan’s clients range from multinational companies to startups in various industries including manufacturing, consumer products, high technology, professional and financial services and real estate and their boards and C-level executives. Dan’s not-for-profit clients include health care providers, higher education institutions and foundations and their C-level executives.

Dan counsels clients on pension and welfare benefit plan design and administration, including ESOPs, design and administration of executive and equity compensation agreements and arrangements, as well as addressing compliance with governmental regulations matters.

Dan’s ERISA litigation practice consists of the representation of clients in benefit and breach of fiduciary duty claims. A special focus of Dan’s litigation practice is the representation of corporations and executives in executive compensation claims.

Dan is a counselor and litigator in employment law matters. He advises clients pro-actively on compliance issues from hire through termination, structuring and preparing employment documents, and regu

Professional Recognitions

Fellow, American College of Employee Benefits Counsel
Senior Editor, Employee Benefits Law (BNA Books)
Illinois Leading Lawyer in Employee Benefits
Illinois Super Lawyer in Employee Benefits
Best Lawyers in America in ERISA and ERISA Litigation
Memberships
American Bar Association
Chicago Bar Association
National Center for Employee Ownership
National Association of Stock Plan Professionals
ESOP Association

Admissions

Licensed to practice in Illinois

Civic Activities

Member, Big Shoulders Fund Chairman’s Advisory
Former member, Marian University Board of Trustees

Publications

• Are Lawsuits Against Top Private Universities’ 403(b) Plans the “Canary in the Coal Mine”? LinkedIn: August 26, 2016 (blog post).
• Offshore Financial Interests & Immigrants to the U.S.: Failure to Report Existence & Income May Lead to Deportation, The Chicago Financial Planner: May 30, 2016 (blog post).
• S Corporation Owner-Employees Must Report “Reasonable Compensation” for Personal Services or Face Significant Tax Penalties, LinkedIn: March 25, 2016 (blog post).
• A Smart Way to Avoid Employment Litigation: Include Mandatory Arbitration in Your Handbook, LinkedIn: June 30, 2015 (blog post).
• Have You Established a Policy for After Hours Online Work? LinkedIn: May 23, 2015 (blog post).
• When Was the Last Time You Updated Your Employee Handbook? The Time is Now, LinkedIn: May 8, 2015 (blog post).
• Is Your Noncompete Enforceable? The Chicago Financial Planner: May 8, 2014 (blog post).
• You Received a Pink Slip and Separation Agreement: Now What? The Chicago Financial Planner: December 7, 2013 (blog post).
• Author article, “Without Proper Planning Contingent Workers Pose Serious Risks to Employer Benefit Plans,” in Employee Benefit Plan Review (July 2011).
• Author article, Equity Interests in Limited Liability Corporations, 20 The Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance 19 (Winter 2008) (co-author with C. Rosen); expanded and reprinted in Equity Compensation for
• Limited Liability Companies (LLCs)(NCEO, 1st 2009).
• Co-author article, Securities Law Considerations in Decision-Maker’s Guide to Equity Compensation (NCEO, 1st 2007; updated in 2nd ed. 2011).
• Co-author article, A Tiered Approach to Equity Design with Multiple Equity Compensation Vehicles, 16 The
• Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance 29 (Winter 2004); reprinted or updated in Beyond Stock Options (NCEO, 2nd 2004 – 9th ed. 2011).
• Co-author article, If Not Options, Then What? Equity Compensation in Today’s Economy, Workspan, pp. 26-32, September 2003.
• Author article, When Remarriage Muddies the Waters: QDROs & Surviving Spouse Protection, 24 A.B.A. Sec. Pub. Family Advocate 39 (Fall 2001); reprinted in 19 A.B.A. Sec. Pub. GP Solo 16 (March 2002).
• Author article, Underwater Stock Options and Repricing Strategy: Is Your Company Drowning in Confusion? 13 The Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance 17 (Fall 2001); reprinted in Stock Options: Beyond the
• Basics (NCEO, 2nd 2003), and Selected Issues in Stock Options (NCEO, 1st ed. 2004); updated in 18 The Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance 53 (Winter 2006); reprinted or updated in Selected Issues in Equity Compensation (NCEO, 3rd ed. 2006 – 8th ed. 2011).
• Chapter author, 2004-2005 Cumulative Supplements for Reporting and Disclosure, Substantive Regulation of Health Plans, and Civil Practice and Procedure in Employee Benefits Law, Jane Kheel Stanley, ed. (BNA Books, 1st 2000).
• Author article, Recent Changes to the Minimum Distribution Rules for Tax-Qualified Retirement Plans, Profit Sharing (July/August 1998).
• Co-author article, When Is An Activity “Substantially Related” to a Health Care Institution’s Tax-Exempt Purpose? (Pts. 1 & 2), 20 Journal Of Health and Hospital Law 145 (September 1987), 20 Journal Of Health and Hospital Law 193 (November 1987).

Education

LL.M. in Taxation – DePaul University College of Law, Chicago
J.D. – The John Marshall Law School, Chicago
B.A. cum laude – Marian University, Indianapolis