Service Description

A severance agreement is a legally enforceable agreement between you and your current or (soon-to-be) former employer. You can negotiate it up front or upon exit. If/When you execute a valid severance agreement, you give up any right(s) to sue the employer, with the sole exception of enforcing the severance agreement. Any employee contemplating accepting a severance agreement should consult with a compete employment law attorney to determine what you may be giving up for what your employer offered. An attorney may have a vastly different opinion of the agreement, your claims and your leverage during negotiations. If a lawyer determines you have a legal claim/claims to assert in hopes of increasing the amount of severance, the time period to conclude a severance negotiation may last from two to six weeks, depending on the circumstances. Above all, you need to remember, this is a transaction involving your investment of time and money, not emotions. There is a risk in every severance negotiation that you may end up with what was originally offered, but you will not know until you respectfully request more severance and explain why it benefits the employer to pay more. Your investment in an attorney’s time to review and negotiate the agreement can (no guarantee) have enormous payoffs in terms of a higher settlement, possibly much larger than what you paid in legal fees. Although there are no rules about how much to ask in severance, the more you demand the more likely you will find yourself in litigation. Think in terms of multiples of your compensation and benefits. If the employer refuses to negotiate an increase in severance or more favorable severance terms, assuming you have valid legal claims, your next step is to file administrative complaints with state and/or federal agencies, or file a lawsuit. Remember, 98% of all lawsuits settle; it is typically a matter of when. You may have to expend resources to litigate the case to convince the other party of their liability. Needless to state, it is unwise to litigate cases which have borderline (50/50) claims.