Counseling Practice and Results

Since 2015, we have advised at least two hundred executives regarding their employment and separation agreements. Virtually all our counseling work comes to us via referrals either from former clients or from lawyers who have seen our work from the opposite side of the table.

A few of the issues we help with at the employment offer stage include negotiating equity acceleration and contractual severance, establishing the ability to early exercise stock options and minimize taxes in other ways, and drafting contractual language that confirms that bonuses and commissions will be paid as promised. At the separation stage, we can identify points of leverage that help maximize the cash and stock components of a severance package. Our reputation as litigators lends credibility to these leverage points. A blog post on this topic provides more details about what to look for in a severance agreement.

Our clients have included executives at startups in the biotech, fintech, consumer products, robotics, and AI firms. They have also included law firm partners and employees of venture capital and private equity funds as well as some of the largest tech companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are familiar with nuances specific to the following industries: financial services, hospitality, insurance, media, real estate sectors, and semiconductors.

Please contact us if you have questions or are looking for representation. We work on trust, so we do not require retainers and instead just bill our clients at the end of each month. Our hourly rates are attractive relative to our experience and credentials. We work efficiently and do not charge for unnecessary overhead.