Employment Agreements and Executive Compensation
Our Practice
Our comprehensive suite of employment counseling services includes advice on complex employment agreements and executive compensation arrangements.
We regularly develop, negotiate and draft an array of agreements for management and other personnel, including employment and separation agreements, non-compete and non-solicitation agreements, and executive sales level contracts. We help clients execute employee leasing, Professional Employment Organization (PEO), and consulting agreements.
We protect our clients' intellectual property by formulating and enforcing agreements and policies that safeguard these invaluable proprietary and confidential corporate assets.
Pedersen lawyers collaborate with clients to design and draft individualized executive compensation agreements that often include provisions for non-qualified deferred compensation and incentive bonuses. We help implement equity compensation plans, such as non-qualified and incentive stock option plans; phantom stock; stock appreciation rights; and restricted stock plans. Additionally, we offer counsel on the full range of tax and other legal issues that pertain to compensation arrangements.
A diverse group of employers benefit from our experience in negotiating and preparing customized severance pay plans, separation agreements, and releases for terminated employees that often include non-compete agreements, outplacement service arrangements, stock options, and bonus compensation benefit components. We structure non-discriminatory Reductions-in-Force (RIF) plans and advise clients on the requirements of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). We also regularly advise clients on potential multi-employer plan withdrawal liability that may arise as a result of plant shutdowns or related issues involving unionized employees.
Our core competency is not limited to executing employment and compensatory agreements: we enforce them in federal and state courts throughout the country. Our lawyers have successfully litigated claims for commissions, bonuses, and breach of employment agreements, and obtained injunctive remedies to enforce restrictive covenants in employment agreements in many jurisdictions.