Mike Melbinger (now retired) was a partner in the law firm of Winston & Strawn LLP, and global head of the Firm’s Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Practice. He was also an Adjunct Professor of Law at both the Northwestern University School of Law and the University of Illinois College of Law. Mike is the author of the CCH treatise Executive Compensation, now in its Second Edition, the American Bankers Association's Compliance Guide to Employee Benefit Trusts, and more than 70 articles on executive compensation and employee benefits topics. He is also on the editorial board of Practical Tax Strategies, and writes the popular Melbinger's Compensation Blog for CompensationStandards.com.

He is frequently quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and other national publications. He has appeared as a guest on the Jim Lehrer News Hour, the Fox News Business Report, and other nationally broadcast television programs. Mike practices exclusively in the area of executive compensation and employee benefit issues for corporations, partnerships, executives, boards of directors and fiduciaries. He also handles the benefits and compensation issues in litigation, bankruptcy, change in control, and public offering situations. Mike was elected as a fellow into the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel in 2005. Each year since 2007, he has been named a Leading Lawyer for Business by Chamber & Partners and one of the top 100 lawyers in Illinois by Illinois Super Lawyers. He is a member of the ABA and NASPP. He also handles pro bono matters for Adoptive Families of America, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Donors Forum, and other nonprofit entities. Mike received a BA from the University of Notre Dame in 1980 and a JD from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1983. He serves on the Board of Visitors of the University of Illinois College of Law.