Jim Barrall is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins and specializes in employee benefit and executive compensation matters. He is the Global Chair of the firm's Benefits and Compensation Group and Chair of the Los Angeles office Tax Department.
Mr. Barrall has more than 30 years of experience in representing companies and others in designing, negotiating and documenting employment agreements and executive compensation and benefit arrangements of all types in many contexts. He specializes in representing Boards of Directors, Compensation Committees and senior executives on corporate governance and compensation matters and in negotiating their compensation arrangements. Mr. Barrall joined Latham & Watkins in 1986 and has served on the firm's Associates Committee, Recruiting Committee and Investments and Benefits Committee.
On a pro bono basis, Mr. Barrall advises charitable organizations on employee benefit and executive compensation matters and serves on the Board of Directors of the Inner City Law Center, a public interest law firm in Los Angeles. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of the UCLA School of Law and Founding Chair of the UCLA Law Firm Challenge. He is also President of Friends of Jazz at UCLA.
In the Chambers & Partners USA 2009 guide, Mr. Barrall was recognized as the sole "Star Individual" in the employee benefits and executive compensation practice category. He was named as a top-tier benefits and compensation lawyer in Chambers & Partners USA's 2007, 2008 and 2009 rankings and was recognized as a "Leading Lawyer" in the area of employee benefits in the 2008 Legal 500 US guide. In addition, he is listed in the 2010 Best Lawyers in America survey in the Employee Benefits Law category. In 2008 Mr. Barrall was honored as the UCLA Law School Alumni of the Year for Professional Achievement. Mr. Barrall was recently named among the "Top 100 Lawyers in California" for 2009 by the Daily Journal, with the newspaper noting that he was "helping to shape the national discourse on executive pay." He was also cited as a recommended attorney in World Tax 2010, a guide to the world's leading tax firms published by International Tax Review.
Mr. Barrall is a past Chair of the Taxation Section of the California State Bar Association and has served on its Executive Committee. He is also a past Chair of the Beverly Hills Bar Association's Tax and Employee Benefits Committees.
Mr. Barrall is a frequent author and lecturer on executive compensation and employee benefit topics and is a co-author of the chapter on extensions of credit to directors and officers in the American Bar Association's Practitioner's Guide to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. He has served as a contributing editor and columnist with Executive Compensation Strategies and has lectured on executive compensation matters at the UCLA Law School, the UCLA Anderson School of Management and the Aresty Institute of Executive Education at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Barrall is a regular commentator on executive compensation matters and has been featured in numerous publications and presentations, including:
- “Calls for Better, Briefer CD&A Disclosure in 2010,” Compliance Week (12-1-09)
- “Opinion: Seize High Ground During Lull in Regulatory Storm,” Agenda (10-26-09)
- “Forecast for Government Restrictions on Executive Pay” - Wall Street Journal Video Interview (3-10-09)
- “Opinion: Boards Must Prep for Spread of TARP Comp Rules,” Agenda (4-27-09)
- "Executive Compensation: How Much Is Too Much?" - UCLA Anderson School of Management Video Panel (4-14-09)
- “Preparing Now for SEC Disclosure Changes,” Compliance Week (7-20-09)
- "Expert Insights: The Future of Corporate Boards," Agenda (6-15-09).
- “Risk vs. Executive Reward,” Wall Street Journal (6-15-09).
- “Pay Changes Ripple Beyond Bailouts,” Wall Street Journal (2-5-09).
- "Navigating The Storm: Compensation Committee Best Practices for Today's Environment," Agenda (9-15-08).
- "The Latest Insider-Trading Worries," Corporate Board Member (July/August, 2008).
- "The SEC Hangs Tough on CEO Pay…But Make Nice Overseas," Corporate Board Member (May/June, 2008).
- "Boards Flex Their Pay Muscles," Wall Street Journal (4-14-08).
- "Corporations Claw Their Way Into Investors' Good Graces," Financial Week (3-17-08).
- "How to Handle the IRS's Flip-Flop on Performance Pay," Agenda (3-10-08).
- "Option Reprice Wave Builds," Financial Week (2-18-08).
- "SEC Unhappy With Answers on Pay," Wall Street Journal (1-29-08).
For a listing of Mr. Barrall's recent publications and media coverage, please click here.