Crescent Moran Chasteen is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Boston office and serves as Co-Chair of the firm’s Executive Compensation + Benefits practice. 

Crescent is a seasoned attorney who is recognized for her extensive experience in all aspects of executive compensation, including tax, securities, and accounting issues. She has spent over two decades navigating the intricate landscape of executive compensation and employee benefits matters as a trusted advisor to top-tier companies and executives in both the public and private company sectors. In this regard, Crescent’s proficiency encompasses the design, drafting, and administration of equity-based compensation programs, employment, retention, severance, change in control, and deferred compensation arrangements, including associated tax (e.g., Section 409A), accounting, and securities law implications. Crescent also regularly advises public companies on SEC reporting requirements related to executive compensation.

As trusted counsel to public and private companies, executives and boards on matters related to the executive compensation and employee benefits aspects of M&A, initial public offerings, and SPAC transactions, Crescent specializes in guiding clients through the intricacies of compensation and benefits issues that arise during such transactions. This includes pre-signing negotiations, executive and equity compensation issues (e.g., Section 280G – the golden parachute rules), and post-closing employee integration. Crescent also has experience in the design, implementation, tax aspects, and operation of tax-qualified retirement plans, including defined benefit and 401(k) retirement plans, nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, and employee welfare benefit plans, including compliance with Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and healthcare reform laws.

Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Crescent was a partner advising on executive compensation and employee benefits law at multinational law firms in Boston and Washington, D.C.

Crescent is a frequent author and speaker on topics relating to executive compensation. She has served as the co-chair of the Boston Bar Association’s ERISA Subcommittee and a member of the BBA’s Tax Steering Committee. She is also actively involved in the American Bar Association’s Joint Committee on Employee Benefits.

Crescent earned a B.A. from the University of Maine and her J.D. from Western New England University School of Law. She also holds an LL.M. from Georgetown University School of Law and previously clerked for the Honorable Carolyn P. Chiechi of the U.S. Tax Court.