Employment Services for Individuals
Our attorneys regularly represent founders, executives, employees, independent contractors and directors in matters related to employment and executive compensation. The following are a few examples of the services we provide.
Negotiating Employment and Separation Agreements. The firm specializes in the negotiation and documentation of employment agreements; stock, stock option and other equity agreements; separation agreements; and other employment-related agreements. We have experience with complex executive compensation and equity arrangements. We negotiate results-oriented exit packages that best meet each client’s needs.
Representing Individuals in Mergers and Acquisitions. Our attorneys represent management teams and individual founders, executives, shareholders and directors in merger, acquisition and financing transactions. Our services include the negotiation of non-competition agreements, consulting agreements, equity agreements, employment agreements and separation agreements.
Competing with Former Employers. The firm provides counsel to individuals who are starting a new business or joining a new employer. We advise clients who are subject to non-competition, non-solicitation or confidentiality agreements, and provide counsel when the new venture might compete with the individual’s former employer, use technology that is similar to that of the former employer, or pursue the former employer’s customers.
Independent Contractors. Our firm advises independent contractors on a variety of matters, from the negotiation and documentation of consulting agreements, equity agreements and other agreements to additional issues that arise with the contractor’s clients.
Partners and Shareholders. Our firm represents partners and shareholders in the negotiation and documentation of partnership agreements and shareholder agreements and advises partners and shareholders regarding their rights and obligations.
Directors and Officers. Our firm provides advice to directors and top management on indemnification, liability, fiduciary duty and other issues.
General Counseling. Our attorneys counsel individuals on myriad employment issues, including terminations, leaves, disability rights, indemnification, trade secrets, intellectual property and other employment rights.
Administrative Claims and Litigation Counseling. We help individuals resolve disputes with employers and former employers. If the dispute results in a wage claim, DFEH claim, EEOC claim, or other administrative claim, we can represent the individual through the administrative claim process. If the dispute results in litigation, we will find litigation counsel and assist as necessary with the litigation, but we are unable to represent the individual in the lawsuit.
Billing Terms for Employment Services
Our goals are to charge you the fair value of the legal services we provide to you and to become your long term partner for employment matters. To accomplish this goal, we provide several different billing arrangements for employment services depending upon your needs, your budget and the amount of time that will be needed to accomplish your goals. The two most common arrangements we provide for individuals are hourly billing arrangements and project billing arrangements. However, we are willing to work under any alternative billing arrangement that is reasonable for both of us. Please contact one of our employment attorneys to discuss any alternative billing arrangement:
Hourly Billing. In an hourly billing arrangement, the fees for each matter are determined based on the hours billed for that matter and the attorney’s hourly billing rate. Please contact our office for our current billing rates. Hourly billing arrangements are still the most common billing terms and are the only billing arrangement offered by the majority of other law firms. The primary way we make sure our legal services are cost effective is by limiting the hours spent on a matter to the number of hours that are appropriate in light of the services you request and the results you seek. However, in an hourly billing arrangement, we are still committed to making sure the amount of your bill is equal to the fair value of the legal services we have provided, and if we determine that the fair value of our legal services is less than the actual hours billed on a matter, we will reduce the amount billed appropriately.
Project Billing. In a project billing arrangement, we will give you a fixed price for a particular matter, which will be based on the value of the project to you (as opposed to the time required). We will also track the time spent on the matter. Upon completion of the matter, you will receive a bill showing both the fixed project price and the hourly billing amount (based on the time spent on the matter), and you will be charged the lesser of these two amounts. So your fee will never be more than the fixed project price and may be less if the matter ends up requiring less time than we anticipate. Please contact one of our employment attorneys to discuss a fixed project billing rate for the services you need.
