Introduction

Susan has more than 25 years of experience assisting clients with executive compensation, securities, and employee benefits issues.

Susan J. Daley advises companies on a broad range of issues involving executive and equity-based compensation; SEC disclosure and compliance, including proxy statement disclosure; Section 16 reporting; clawback and insider trading compliance; taxation, including Internal Revenue Code section 409A; employee benefits; and corporate governance. 

Susan has held various leadership positions in American, Illinois, and Chicago bar associations, and in the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals. She is a frequent speaker and a co-author of the BNA Tax Management Portfolio “Securities Law Aspects of Employee Benefit Plans,” as well as a contributing author of The Public Company Handbook: A Corporate Governance and Disclosure Guide for Directors and Executives

Education & credentials

  • Harvard Law School, J.D., 1981
  • University of Connecticut, B.A., summa cum laude, 1978

Professional recognition

  • Listed in Best Lawyers in America: Employee Benefit (ERISA) Law, 1995-2026

  • Listed in Thomson Reuters “Stand-out Lawyers,” 2024

  • Listed in Who's Who in America

  • Listed in Who's Who of Emerging Leaders in America

  • Listed in Who's Who in American Law

  • Listed in Chicago Magazine as one of the "Top 100 Illinois Super Lawyers," 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016

  • Listed as a "Super Lawyer" by Super Lawyers Magazine, 2005-2025

  • Listed as one of the "Top 50 Women Illinois Super Lawyers," as published by Law & Politics, 2006-2014, 2016

  • Ranked by Chambers USA as “America’s Leading Business Lawyers," 2007-2010, "America's Leading Labor & Employment Lawyers," 2011-2026

  • *Peer Review Rated AV in Martindale-Hubbell
    (AV®, BV® and CV® are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies.)

  • *The Supreme Court of Illinois does not recognize certifications of specialties in the practice of law and no certificate, award or recognition is a requirement to practice law in Illinois.

Impact

  • National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, Chicago Chapter, former President
  • American Bar Association: Section of Taxation Employee Benefits Committee, Federal Securities Law Subcommittee, Former Chair; Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (JCEB), Former Chair
  • American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, Fellow
  • Illinois State Bar Association, Employee Benefits Section Council, Former Chair
  • Chicago Bar Association, Employee Benefits Committee, Former Chair; Federal Taxation Committee, Former Chair