Paula Holland

Paula Holland has more than 20 years’ experience of executive compensation and equity incentives in the UK, the US and internationally. Companies turn to Paula for advice and transactional support throughout their life cycle as they build their businesses, expand internationally and plan their exits. Paula is skilled in advising multi-nationals, both public and private, on the incentive aspects of their most strategic transactions including M&As, with a focus on private equity, IPOs, and SPACs. She also assists remuneration committees in their determinations relating to retention and incentive arrangements for board members and senior management.

Paula’s key areas of work include:

• Guiding late-stage private companies on opportunities to leverage equity incentives fully within their strategies for growth, exits and IPOs
• Advising UK companies on the compensation aspects of preparing for and listing on NASDAQ and NYSE
• Exporting US and UK equity plans to multiple jurisdictions, with the ability to provide advice on the tax, securities laws and employment law issues in more than 60 countries
• Helping start-ups with their early stage incentives, key hires and first international steps

Paula regularly contributes to Cooley led programs such as Comp Talks, IPO Institute, HR Network, Future50 and UpScale to ensure clients are kept up to date on the latest legal developments and best practices within the incentives space.

She is consistently recognised by Chambers UK and the Legal 500 as a leading lawyer, with clients noting:

“Paula Holland comes recommended for her ‘world-class substantive knowledge of equity matters’ and her ‘great client skills.’ She offers a wealth of experience advising on compensation and equity incentives.”

Paula Holland is “incredibly experienced and helpful in her advice.”

Paula Holland is “excellent – she understands our needs and demands as second nature, and her speed of delivery is exceptional.”