Paul Wessel, Chairman of Weil’s Tax Department and Head of the Firm’s Executive Compensation & Benefits Group, has been recognized as a 2025 Law360 Benefits MVP, marking the second time he has received the honor.

In his interview with Law360, Paul discussed the breadth of his work advising major employers on benefits and executive compensation aspects of significant transactions, including mergers, acquisitions and restructurings.

Paul shared that his interest in employment and benefits law was shaped early in life. “My father was a UAW member, my uncle was a union leader, I myself used to work for the retail clerks,” he said, explaining how his family’s labor background influenced his professional path.

Among his accomplishments in the last year, Paul highlighted his role on the Firm’s largest transactions, emphasizing that “The biggest accomplishment was to have done hopefully good work for a number of high-profile clients in high-profile deals.”

He pointed to major matters including acquisitions by The Home Depot Inc. and his work on the Kroger-Albertsons merger, which, had it closed, “would have been the largest transaction he worked on.” He also noted his recent work advising on benefits issues in significant bankruptcy matters, including Steward Healthcare’s chapter 11 exit.

After 38 years in practice, Paul said the work remains dynamic because laws and business cycles continue to evolve: “It is still fresh,” he told the publication. “Issues are presented in different ways by different people, no one day is like the last.”

Paul also emphasized the people-focused nature of the benefits practice at Weil and the unique opportunities it offers younger attorneys.

“I tell our young lawyers, it’s great to be an employee benefits lawyer at Weil Gotshal because we do high-level, public M&A. We do high-level private equity work, fund formation work, bankruptcy and restructuring... a lot of it in equal measure,” Paul said.

Read Paul's full profile in Law360.