Paul, Weiss has appointed Linda Barrett as a partner in its New York Executive Compensation Department, adding a lawyer whose practice combines private equity, public company advisory work and major corporate transactions.
The firm announced the appointment on 15 June 2026, confirming that Barrett had joined from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and would work with department co-heads Jean McLoughlin and Matthew Friestedt.
Barrett advises private equity funds and listed companies on executive compensation, employee benefits and Employee Retirement Income Security Act matters arising from mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, take-private transactions, asset sales, spin-offs and initial public offerings. She also handles the design and implementation of compensation and benefit programmes, as well as executive employment and separation arrangements.
Her arrival gives Paul, Weiss additional specialist capacity in an area that increasingly requires corporate, tax, employment and governance advice to be coordinated from the early stages of a transaction. Compensation structures, retention packages, change-of-control provisions and equity incentives can affect deal value, employee continuity and the timetable for completing an acquisition.
Barrett has advised on compensation and benefits matters connected with KKR’s acquisition of Broadcom’s end-user computing division, New Mountain Capital’s investment in the non-attest business of Grant Thornton Advisors and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust’s acquisition of Preferred Apartment Communities. Those mandates underline the role executive compensation lawyers play in transactions involving private equity sponsors, listed businesses and complex workforce arrangements.
Barrett holds a BA from Hofstra University and a JD from Rutgers Law School, where she served as an editor of the Rutgers Law Review. Her appointment adds depth to a Paul, Weiss team advising on change-of-control arrangements, benefit plans and employee obligations arising from public and private transactions and corporate restructurings.
The move also reflects continuing competition among major US firms for lawyers able to support private equity clients across several connected workstreams. Executive compensation specialists are frequently involved before signing and remain engaged through completion, integration, disclosure and employee communications, making their work central to transaction planning rather than a narrow benefits exercise.
The appointment highlights the need for solicitors and in-house counsel to identify compensation and ERISA issues before commercial terms become fixed. Law firm management teams may also view specialist lateral recruitment as a direct way to deepen institutional client relationships and protect high-value transactional mandates. Paul, Weiss’s recruitment of Barrett indicates that firms competing for complex private equity and public company work will continue building teams that combine M&A execution with employment, benefits, tax and governance advice.