O'Kelly E. McWilliams III is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Washington, D.C., office, where he advises clients on the human capital aspects of corporate transactional matters. Mr. McWilliams provides legal counsel and advances business objectives that impact enterprise strategy/operations, employment aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), corporate transactions, cost reduction, risk mitigation and corporate culture. He also handles high-level executive employment disputes, internal investigations, compensation negotiations, and develops structure and metrics related to executive compensation.
Mr. McWilliams' experience encompasses working with leadership teams across various industries, including technology, food service, financial, healthcare and startup sectors. A significant part of his work focuses on financial services clients, including hedge funds, private equity firms and investment firms, with up to $10 billion in assets under management. Mr. McWilliams has developed a vast network of investment professionals, including more than 80 diverse-owned private equity firms and hedge funds and has served as the chair of the board of trustees of the Virginia Retirement System (VRS), a pension plan valued at more than $105 billion.
Mr. McWilliams has helped companies handle whistleblower allegations and investigations, and conduct investigations of employee misconduct, including trade secret theft. His experience includes conducting confidential internal company investigations related to allegations of accounting and financial wrongdoing, corporate waste, discrimination, harassment and unethical dealings.
Mr. McWilliams conducts compensation audits related to pay disparity issues and collaborates with senior executives and boards to develop compensation metrics to align management with organizational environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.