Fenton D. Strickland

Fenton D. Strickland serves as Chair of Krieg DeVault's Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice.  He focuses his practice on employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and ESOP transactions and advises clients on all matters of retirement plans, incentive plans, and executive compensation.  In his ESOP practice, Mr. Strickland represents ESOP trustees, companies, boards of directors, banks, and selling shareholders across the country in ESOP transactions, ESOP plan design and implementation, and ESOP administration and governance.  He has represented companies and trustees in purchases and sales of business in dozens of transactions.

Mr. Strickland brings a rich professional experience to his client service and strives to apply his background as both a CPA and an attorney serving a wide range of industries and companies of all sizes to transform complicated issues into simple solutions.  Before joining Krieg DeVault, Mr. Strickland served the Indiana Judiciary in two separate instances, first as a Judicial Clerk to Justice Brent Dickson of the Indiana Supreme Court and later as the Counsel to the Chief Justice of Indiana, serving the State’s judicial branch in chief administrative, legal, and financial roles.  Between those periods of service to the State, Mr. Strickland had a national tax law practice at another firm and has extensive experience in state income, sales and use, real estate, personal property, and unemployment taxes, appearing in numerous cases before the Indiana Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Tax Court, and various administrative bodies.  As a CPA, before kicking off his legal career, Mr. Strickland worked in public accounting and various accounting management positions. 

Professional Associations

• The ESOP Association (Finance Advisory Committee)
• The ESOP Association, Indiana Chapter (Member)
• National Center for Employee Ownership (Member)
• Ohio Employee Ownership Center (Member)
• Indiana Benefits Committee (Executive Board)
• Indiana State Bar Association (Member)
• Indianapolis Bar Association, Professionalism Committee & Tax Section Executive Board
• Indianapolis Bar Association Bar Leader Series, Class of 2011

Seminars and Presentations

• Bulletproofing a Deal:  Post-Transaction Considerations, Ohio Employee Ownership Center Annual Conference (August 2020)
• Corporate Governance in an ESOP Company, National Center for Employee Ownership Annual Conference (April 2020)
• Corporate Governance in ESOP Companies, National Center for Employee Ownership Annual Conference (April 2019)
• Corporate Governance in an ESOP Company, The ESOP Association, Indiana Chapter Annual Conference (March 2019)
• Selling Your Company to an ESOP:  Step by Step, National Center for Employee Ownership Annual Conference (April 2018)
• The Evolving Fiduciary Process:  Practical Lessons from Recent Cases, The ESOP Association National Conference (November 2017)

Education

• J.D., summa cum laude, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Indianapolis, Indiana, 2005
• B.S. in Business (Accounting), Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, 1994

Bar & Court Admissions

• Indiana, 2005
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Practices

• Business Services
• Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation
• Employee Stock Ownership Plans
• Tax
• Fraternities and Sororities

Industries

• Employee Stock Ownership Plans