George B. Sanders Jr. (Ben)
Ben Sanders is Of Counsel to the firm where he is a member of the Business & Corporate Services Group. His practice focuses on management buyouts using ESOPs and executive compensation for public and privately held businesses which includes clients in the healthcare and long-term care industry. He has extensive experience in designing and implementing ESOP transactions, executive compensation programs and mergers and acquisitions. Ben spends his time in both the Louisville and Nashville offices of Stites & Harbison.
Mr. Sanders has been designing and implementing ESOP transactions and management buyouts since 1984. His clients include companies in industries as diverse as aerospace, banking, petroleum distribution, lumber brokerage, suppliers to NASA and the military, capital equipment, homebuilding, chemical distribution, commercial lighting, engineering, media and entertainment, material handling, pharmaceuticals, and privatized correctional facilities. Mr. Sanders has represented business owners, management buyout groups, and ESOP trustees, and has often served as "counsel to the deal," working with other counsel to design transaction structures that accomplish the needs of disparate parties. In addition, Mr. Sanders has successfully defended plan fiduciaries in significant fiduciary liability cases brought by the U.S. Department of Labor. Mr. Sanders serves as an outside director on the boards of several ESOP owned companies in New England and the Southeast.
Mr. Sanders is experienced in tax, accounting and disclosure issues surrounding executive equity and deferred compensation in public companies, and knowledgeable regarding corporate compensation theory and practice.
Improving the Governance of ESOP Companies
Norton Healthcare Foundation, Past Chair
Home of the Innocents, Former Director
Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, Mass., Honorary Trustee
Vanderbilt University Law School
Cornell University
Mr. Sanders has practiced extensively in New England where he was Managing Partner of Bowditch & Dewey, LLP.
Mr. Sanders stays active in various non-profit organizations. He is the past chair of Norton Healthcare Foundation. He is a former director of Home of the Innocents, and an honorary trustee of Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, Mass.
Martindale-Hubbell® AV-Preeminent® Peer Review Rated
Best Lawyers in America®, for Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law (1995-2025)
Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2025 Best Lawyers® Publications
Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 97 of its lawyers are included in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence according to the publication. Additionally, 12 Stites & Harbison attorneys are named as “Lawyer of the Year” and 30 attorneys are recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America, which recognizes attorneys early in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States.
Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2024 Best Lawyers® Publications
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 101 of its lawyers are included in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®.
Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2023 Best Lawyers® Publications
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 98 of its lawyers are included in the 2023 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©. Additionally, 11 Stites & Harbison attorneys are named as “Lawyer of the Year” and 19 attorneys are recognized in “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch,” which recognizes attorneys early in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States.
Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2022 Best Lawyers® Publications
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 93 lawyers are included in the 2022 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Additionally, 11 attorneys are named as “Lawyer of the Year” and 14 attorneys are recognized in “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch,” which recognizes attorneys early in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States.
Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2021 Best Lawyers® Publications
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 82 lawyers are included in the 2021 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©.
Best Lawyers in America Honors 75 Stites & Harbison attorneys for 2020
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Best Lawyers in America© 2020 has recognized 75 Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorneys as selected by their peers in 49 areas of practice. Forty-three of those attorneys selected have been honored for 10 consecutive years or more.
Best Lawyers in America honors 72 Stites & Harbison attorneys for 2019
Best Lawyers in America honors 79 Stites & Harbison attorneys for 2018