Combining a love of challenges with a desire to help others, Christine Osvald-Mruz is enthusiastic about helping clients solve problems. Versatile and pragmatic in her approach, Chris asks the incisive questions that enable her to assess the issues and tailor the response to each client’s particular needs.

Favoring the sort of work that could normally produce a headache, Chris focuses her practice in two primary areas. One is executive compensation and employee benefits. The other is limited liability companies, partnerships and joint ventures. In both areas, she helps clients design, negotiate and document ways of sharing in the value of a business, including relationships among owners, and compensation and incentives to employees.

As part of her work in the benefits space, Chris handles equity-based compensation and incentive plans, executive employment agreements, and severance and change in control agreements. She advises on the benefits and compensation aspects of M&A deals and other corporate transactions. She navigates clients and their deferred compensation arrangements through the dreaded Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code.

In the partnership arena, Chris addresses economic rights, management and governance. Her projects include structuring operating companies to which owners contribute capital, property and/or services, constructing profits interest plans and advising on joint ventures.

Don’t be put off by her daunting last name. Chris is highly approachable and delights in making the complex simple, or at least understandable, and bringing order to chaos.

Chris co-chairs STRIDES®, Advancing Women in Business, a firm-sponsored initiative whose mission is to promote visibility, leadership, and peer networking for women in business.

Her other role as mother of four boys prepares Chris well for just about anything.