Simone Hicks is a partner in Debevoise & Plimpton LLP’s Washington D.C. office and a member of the firm’s Executive Compensation & Benefits Group. Her practice focuses on a broad range of executive compensation and employee benefits matters, including benefits and tax issues that arise in public and private mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions and on the design, negotiation and implementation of employee agreements, equity and cash-based incentive and other compensation programs for public and private companies, management groups and individual executives.
Ms. Hicks advises clients on compensation-related corporate and securities law matters, including corporate governance and analyzing and complying with applicable SEC registration, reporting and disclosure requirements.
Ms. Hicks was selected as a “Dealmaker of the Year” by The American Lawyer for her work advising Warner Bros. Discovery in its sale to Paramount Skydance Corporation at an enterprise value of $110 billion, the second largest media deal ever and the largest all-cash transaction in corporate history. Ms. Hicks is recommended by The Legal 500 US (2024). She was named a 2023 Law360 Rising Star for benefits.
Additionally, Ms. Hicks is co-author of “Executive Compensation Reminders for Public Companies,” Benefits Law Journal (March, 2026); “Key Considerations for the 2026 Proxy Season,” Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (January, 2026); “FTC Actions Highlight New Noncompete Enforcement Strategy,” Law360 (September, 2025); “Potential Impacts Of IRS' $1M Affiliate Pay Deduction Cap,” Law360 (March, 2025); “2025 Executive Compensation Reminders for Public Companies,” Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (January, 2025); “Key Considerations for the 2025 Proxy Season,” Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (January, 2025); “2024 Proxy Roundup: ESG Metrics in Incentive Compensation Plans,” Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (August, 2024); “Key Considerations for the 2024 Proxy Season,” Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (January, 2024) and “Retaining employees below the c-suite during a merger,” Thomson Reuters/Westlaw Today (January, 2024).