He served as Chair of the firm’s Corporate practice area from 2012-2016, and 1991-1994, and also as a member of the firm’s Executive Committee from 1994 to 2003 and Board of Directors for over 25 years.

Mr. Desmond’s practice includes advising corporations and financial institutions with respect to executive compensation, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and governance matters. His corporate engagements have included acting as advisor to boards of directors and to compensation, audit, governance and other special committees of boards of directors of public and privately held corporations.

Mr. Desmond is known nationally for his representation of corporations, compensation committees and executives on a day-to-day and transactional basis with respect to employment, retirement and separation arrangements affecting senior executives, incentive compensation programs and related regulatory and disclosure requirements. His assignments in this area have included negotiating employment arrangements, compensation plans and regulatory and disclosure matters relating to numerous organizations, including Ace Hardware, Alexion, Baxalta, Beam, Calamos Investments, Diversey, DIRECTV, First Midwest, Fiserv, Hershey, Hill-Rom, Hyatt, LPGA, MB Financial, PepsiCo, PGA Tour, Protective Life, Stancorp Financial, Visa and numerous private equity-sponsored entities and independent directors.

Mr. Desmond has also spoken and written on executive compensation and governance issues and has been quoted on these matters in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. He is also an instructor for the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management’s board education programs.

Since 2011, Mr. Desmond has been ranked in Chambers USA in the Illinois Labor and Employment: Employee Benefits and Compensation category - Band 4. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the category of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law from 2015 to 2025. In addition, Mr. Desmond received an “AV Preeminent” Peer Rating in Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Desmond was selected for inclusion from 2005 to 2021 in Illinois Super Lawyers. He is also a Leading Lawyer in Illinois. The Legal 500 United States recognized Mr. Desmond in the Labor and Employment—Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation category.