Employment & Severance Negotiations

Whether you are starting a new job or exiting your current company, the attorneys in KJK’s Employment & Severance Negotiations group are your voice at the negotiating table. We represent executives, professionals and other employees in the artful negotiation of employment and severance agreements.

Drawing on extensive experience including both national firm and in-house work, our Employment & Severance Negotiations team is uniquely positioned to help you achieve the best possible outcome for compensation and benefit terms in your executive contract. This includes bonus and incentive compensation, deferred compensation and equity and stock awards. In addition, we understand the importance of negotiating strong severance terms in advance so that our clients are protected in the future.

Our attorneys also represent employees when they are terminated or choose to resign. We work with our clients to identify their goals and then seek to maximize the terms of any severance/separation agreement. When the situation warrants, we pursue legal and contractual claims to ensure our clients receive favorable compensation, benefits and reasonable non-economic terms.

We take pride in our attention to detail and our track record of delivering results that cater to each client’s individual needs and goals. Our executive employment and severance negotiations attorneys successfully negotiate favorable results for our clients, including with the following:

Collaborating with a team of criminal, education and employment lawyers, KJK’s Reputation Management attorneys work to preserve the reputation of clients who have been tried in the court of public opinion. We represent executives and other professionals who have been accused of workplace wrongdoing and misconduct, including sexual harassment, employment discrimination, workplace violence and financial improprieties.

Health insurance may be part of a severance package. Companies sometimes keep employees on the health insurance plan during the severance period. If COBRA applies (or a state COBRA equivalent), the employee may have an opportunity to sign up for continuation coverage.

The company will require that the employee sign a release and waiver, providing that the employee will not file a lawsuit against the company for any employment-related claim that is based upon events occurring prior to the date of the release. The company may also require that the employee agree to keep the terms of the deal confidential, and to refrain from saying anything negative about the company. Depending on the circumstances, the company may also require the employee to agree not to compete against the company or solicit its employees or customers. In return, the company will pay severance either in a lump sum or over a period of time.

That generally depends on the terms of the plans that govern these subjects. The plans usually will spell out what happens when someone is terminated for Cause, or without Cause, as well as when stock becomes vested.