
Michelle is an accomplished employee benefits and executive compensation lawyer with more than 25 years of experience advising clients on ERISA, benefits, and executive compensation matters, including in connection with corporate transactions. She also brings this knowledge and experience to counsel clients that are digitally transforming their business on the use of automation and artificial intelligence in the workplace and the related implications for employee benefits and compensation for their changing workforce. Michelle is called to represent Fortune 500 companies, multinational corporations, nonprofit entities, medium-sized businesses, and individual executives across a variety of industries, including financial services, health care, life sciences, technology, artificial intelligence, media, telecommunications, hospitality, and retail.
Drawing on her law firm, corporate in-house, and business experience, Michelle partners with clients' in-house attorneys, human resources professionals, and benefit plan service providers to develop practical solutions to technical issues that advance clients’ business goals. Clients value Michelle’s clear advice and dedication to working with their project teams. She is often approached to provide guidance on the design, administration, compliance, and termination of qualified plans (such as 401(k), profit-sharing, and pension plans); nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements (including top hat plans and SERPs); employee welfare benefit plans (including group health plans, cafeteria plans, wellness programs, and COBRA requirements); equity/incentive compensation programs (such as stock option, restricted stock, phantom stock, and executive bonus programs); severance plans, and other benefits programs. For corporate transactions, Michelle’s practice includes counseling clients on such issues as the treatment of equity awards, change-in-control and golden parachute issues, plan spin-offs and terminations, post-transaction benefits integration issues, severance, COBRA, multi-employer plan withdrawal liability, and PBGC issues. She also regularly reviews and negotiates her clients’ severance, vendor, trust, investment management, and service provider agreements, and advises clients on the design of plan participant communications. Michelle serves as a trusted advisor to clients on compliance with ERISA, the Affordable Care Act, the Internal Revenue Code, the SECURE Act, the CARES Act, CAA 2021, ARPA, and other laws affecting employee benefit plans. She regularly counsels clients on fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA, including providing advice on plan governance, fiduciary training, and cybersecurity risks for employee benefit plans, and assists plan sponsors, trustees, and Investment and Administrative Committees with the development of best practices. Michelle also represents clients in matters before the Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, and other government agencies, including in connection with the DOL Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program and the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System.
Michelle is a Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, and has received national awards and recognition for her work in employee benefits and executive compensation, including from Chambers USA, The Legal 500 United States, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Marquis Emerging Leaders. She has also been included on the New York Metro Super Lawyers, New York Metro Top Women, New York Metro Rising Stars, and New Jersey Rising Stars lists for her work in the area of employee benefits. In 2012, she received the Excellence in Achievement Award from Seton Hall University School of Law’s Peter W. Rodino, Jr. Society for her commitment to excellence and compassionate service in the field of law.
In addition to her practice, Michelle frequently speaks and writes articles on topics related to employee benefits and executive compensation, including health care and financial regulatory reform, fiduciary issues under ERISA, cybersecurity risks for employee benefit plans, and the outlook for employee benefits in the “future of work.” She has been a featured faculty speaker for continuing education programs offered by the New York City Bar Association, DC Bar Association, Strafford, Lawline, Clear Law Institute, and The Knowledge Congress. She has also published articles in and been interviewed for numerous publications such as The Employee Benefit Plan Review, The New York University Review of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation, Journal of Pension Benefits, Practical Law (Practice Notes), Lexis Nexis Practice Advisor, Law360, Benefits Law360, The BNA Health Insurance Report, The BNA Pension & Benefits Reporter, The BNA Health Law Reporter, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, Confero Magazine, TechNews, and Financier Worldwide. Michelle has also served as an adjunct faculty member of the Seton Hall University School of Law, where she taught a course in Corporate Transactional Skills.
Prior to joining Mintz, Michelle was a member of a national law firm in the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation and Health Care & Life Sciences practices. She has also practiced employee benefits law in the New York and New Jersey offices of several national and international law firms. In addition, Michelle has served in corporate in-house counsel roles with financial institutions, where she provided legal support to their retirement plan and equity award plan recordkeeping businesses. Michelle worked at a Wall Street brokerage company earlier in her career, assisting with retirement product development and obtaining her Series 7, Series 63, and other professional licenses required in the financial services industry. After law school, Michelle served as a judicial law clerk in the Civil Part of the Superior Court of New Jersey.
In law school, Michelle served as a member and assistant notes and comments editor of the Seton Hall Law Review and a co-captain of the Phillip C. Jessup International Moot Court Team. She also received several scholarships and interned with the civil court in Essex County, New Jersey and Seton Hall Law School’s Center for Social Justice.
viewpoints
2022 Roundup: New York Employment Law Legislation
December 23, 2022 | Blog | By Michelle Capezza, Corbin Carter, Evan Piercey
Expanding Coverage and Increasing Retirement Savings with the SECURE 2.0 Act
December 23, 2022 | Blog | By Michelle Capezza
ERISA Fiduciaries May Consider ESG Factors in Selecting Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights
November 30, 2022 | Alert | By Jacob Hupart, Michelle Capezza, Thomas R. Burton, III, Megan Gates
NYC Proposes Rules in Advance of 2023 Automated Employment Decision Tools Law
November 4, 2022 | Blog | By Corbin Carter, Michelle Capezza, Evan Piercey
Post-Dobbs Abortion-Related Travel Benefits: Surveying Employers’ Options
July 13, 2022 | Blog | By Michelle Capezza, Patricia Moran
News & Press
NYC’s New AI Hiring Law Won’t Be Enforced Until April
January 13, 2023
NYC Local Law 144 And The New Frontier Of Algorithmic Decision-Making In The Workplace: What Employers Need To Know As They Prepare For 2023 And Beyond
December 12, 2022
Maintaining Plan Documents And Procedures For Retirement Plan Required Minimum Distributions
October 20, 2022
Providing Meaningful Access To, And Features In, Retirement Savings Plans To Address Savings Gaps And Boost Retirement Savings
October 11, 2022
Twenty-six Mintz Attorneys Recognized as 2022 New York Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
September 29, 2022
Mintz Advises JMP Group in Sale to Citizens Financial Group
November 16, 2021
Mintz Advises Cardurion Pharmaceuticals in Investment of up to $300 Million from Bain Capital
November 02, 2021
Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace and The Future of Employer-Provided Employee Benefits
September 30, 2021
Best Practices for ERISA Fiduciary Responsibilities and Cybersecurity for Retirement Plans
August 24, 2021
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Attorney’s Role in Corporate Transactions
August 20, 2021
Mitigating Cybersecurity Risks for Retirement Plans
July 28, 2021
Designing Employee Benefits to Address Educational Debt
January 1, 2021
Administering Retirement Plans Through a Disaster
September 1, 2020
Recovering Retirements and Making Sense of Employer-Provided Retirement Benefits in a Changing World
September 1, 2020
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Attorney’s Role in Corporate Transactions
August 1, 2020
Revisiting Retirement Plans After the Global Pandemic
April 1, 2020
Designing Employee Benefits to Address Educational Debt
September 1, 2018
Is Your Mental Health Parity Compliance Up To Par?
May 30, 2018
Compensating Executives in the Digital Age
April 1, 2018
Managing Employee Benefits in The Face of Technological Change
September 1, 2017
Events & Speaking
Algorithmic Decision-Making in the Workplace (NYC): Ensuring Compliance and Enhancing Inclusiveness & Diversity in 2023
Mintz & Association of Corporate Counsel - New York Chapter


Cryptocurrency in Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Arrangements
A live 90-minute premium CLE video webinar with interactive Q&A
Strafford Webinar

DOL Cybersecurity Best Practices – Are You and Your Service Providers Secure and Audit Ready?
Worldwide Employee Benefits Network
Webinar

Cybersecurity Risks and Best Practices for Retirement Plans: Employee Benefits Tax Series
Employee Benefits Committee of the D.C. Bar Taxation Community
Webinar

Challenges to the Future of Remote Work: Cybersecurity & Cloud Infrastructure
Banking and Financial Services Committee of the French American Chamber of Commerce New York
Webinar

Cybersecurity and ERISA Retirement Plans: Risks and Best Practices for Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
Strafford
Webinar

Women, Financial Wellness, and Retirement: How Employer-Sponsored Programs Can Increase Awareness and Improve Outcomes
Prudential
Webinar

How Technology Is Affecting the Law, the Cybersecurity of the Nation, and Individual Privacy
United States Military Academy West Point
Is Your Plan Data Secure? Best Practices for 2020
Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB)
New York, NY

Workplace Benefits Renaissance 2018: Legislative Updates – Tax Reform, Health Reform, More
Employee Benefit Adviser's Workplace Benefits Renaissance
Atlantic City, NJ

The Department of Labor’s New Fiduciary Duty Rule: How Your Business Must Change – Wrap Up and Open Forum
the IA Watch and BD Watch conference
The Harvard Club

Workplace Benefits Renaissance: Driving the Future of Workplace Benefits – Keynote Roundtable
Employee Benefit Adviser and Employee Benefit News
Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa


New Jersey Technology Council 2015 Annual Meeting
New Jersey Technology Council
Forsgate Country Club
Attracting/Retaining Employees and Managing Workforce Risk in the 21st Century
New Jersey Technology Council 2014 Annual Meeting
Forsgate Country Club


UK-US Future Cities Knowledge Exchange Project: Remaking Cities
UK-US Future Cities Knowledge Exchange Project
New York, NY
What Are the Tax Considerations of Same-Sex Spouses Now That They Are Treated as Married for Federal Tax Purposes?
New York City Bar Town Hall Meeting
New York, NY
ACA Health Plan Compliance: New Employer Mandate, Plan Documentation and Requirements, Fiduciary Responsibilities
Stafford Publications
Online Event

Changes in Health Care and the Affordable Care Act 2014: An FACC Roundtable
French-American Chamber of Commerce
New York, NY



The Affordable Care Act and Its Impact on Employers and Their Group Health Plans
New Jersey Technology Council 2013 Annual Meeting
New Jersey

Employee Benefits and Compensation Law Basics for the Non-ERISA Attorney
The New York City Bar's Committee on Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation
New York, NY

Perspectives
Recognition & Awards
- Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel (ACEBC) (2022)
- Chambers USA: New York – Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation, Up and Coming (2022)
- Recognized by The Legal 500 United States (2013, 2014, 2016–2022)
- Included on the New York Metro Super Lawyers list (2014–2022)
- Selected for the New York Metro Top Women list (2014–2020)
- Peter W. Rodino, Jr. Society, Seton Hall University School of Law, Excellence in Achievement Award (2012)
- Included on the New York Metro Rising Stars list (2011)
- Included on the New Jersey Rising Stars list (2009)
- Phi Beta Kappa
Involvement
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, American Health Lawyers Association
- Vice President, Board of Trustees, The First American Inn of Transactional Counsel (American Inns of Court)
- Member, The Global Leaders
- Member, National Association of Professional Women
- Member, National Association of Women Lawyers
- Member and past Steering Committee Member, New Jersey Chapter of the Worldwide Employee Benefits Network
- Member, past Advisory Board Member, and former NJTC Technology Ambassador, New Jersey Technology Council
- Founding Member, The Womensphere Global Network
- Member, Alumni Council, Seton Hall University School of Law