Why it is crucial to retain an experienced employment attorney such as Andrew Bosin to assess and explain your legal rights to you?
If you decide not to negotiate your severance package and simply sign whatever document the employer places in front of you, you will likely be asking yourself the question, “Am I getting a fair deal from my employer in the severance package?”
That’s why you need to assess your legal rights immediately upon termination or being presented with a separation agreement. Without an attorney, it will be difficult to fully assess all of the grounds that you may have to challenge post your termination or the severance package you have been offered (or not offered, as the case may be).
The best time to negotiate a severance package, or “separation agreement” is before your target date for leaving the company. Your employer wants you to leave with an executed severance agreement. So it is at this point that the employer is motivated to deal. Once you leave the company or start a new job, it is too late to raise issues that an experienced attorney such as Mr. Bosin would have done if he was retained by you at the outset.
When an employer hands you a severance agreement, you can bet the farm that their attorneys are not concerned about your legal rights. Rather, the agreement is most likely construed in the employer’s favor. Likewise, any contract for employment for an executive will have language contained in it that is not favorable for the employee. One of the things Mr. Bosin can negotiate at the beginning of employment is a fair Severance Package. He can also negotiate or ask to be removed provisions such as non-compete agreements or restrictive covenants which also tend to be written in the employer’s favor by their counsel.
It is also very typical that employers require in exchange for paying severance that the employee execute a Separation Agreement and General Release. In almost every instance these agreements include restrictive covenants and non-compete agreements which serve to restrict and limit the employee’s job search and opportunities. Mr. Bosin has litigated many cases involving non-compete agreements and restrictive covenants and can provide guidance and counseling and advise you on how to proceed when faced with such legal decisions.