Employment agreements, executive compensation, severance review, restrictive covenants, and contractor agreements — for both employers and employees. One transparent price.
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Employment law lives at the intersection of contract law and statutory rights — and the lines have been moving fast in the last few years. Whether you're an executive negotiating a comp package, a professional reviewing a severance, or a company drafting workplace agreements, the document matters more than most people realize.
An employment agreement governs the entire working relationship — compensation, equity, scope of duties, termination terms, post-employment restrictions, and dispute resolution. For executives and senior professionals, the agreement is heavily negotiated and signed before the first day of work. For most other employees, the "agreement" is a few-paragraph offer letter plus the company's standard policies. The level of detail varies, but the legal effect of what's written is identical.
We negotiate executive employment agreements on the employee side (compensation structure, equity vesting, severance triggers, restrictive covenant scope) and draft them on the company side. The clauses that matter most over time are usually not the salary number — that's negotiated openly — but the terms that govern what happens at the end: termination for cause vs. without cause, equity acceleration, payment timing, and what restrictions follow the employee out the door.
Most severance agreements are negotiable. Most people don't negotiate them. The pattern is consistent — someone is terminated, HR provides a 12-page severance agreement with a one-week deadline (or three-week deadline if ADEA applies because the employee is 40 or older), and they sign it. The dollar amount is the least negotiable component; everything else is more negotiable, and several of the other terms matter more financially over time.
We review severance agreements quickly — usually within 24-48 hours of receipt — and identify what's standard, what's not, and where leverage exists. The most common improvements: vesting acceleration on equity, increased COBRA subsidy, removal or narrowing of restrictive covenants, agreed reference language, and prorated bonus. For executives, severance review is one of the highest-ROI legal services available; the cost of review is often a fraction of the negotiated improvement.
Executive compensation packages combine salary, bonus, equity (stock options, RSUs, or restricted stock), benefits, and severance protections. Each component has its own rules — vesting schedules, tax treatment, performance metrics, change-of-control protections — and they interact in ways that aren't always obvious.
We work on executive comp issues from both sides: representing executives negotiating a new package or evaluating an existing one, and helping companies structure comp plans that align incentives correctly. The most common executive-side concerns are vesting acceleration on termination (single-trigger vs. double-trigger), what constitutes "good reason" to leave with severance, and how performance metrics are set and measured. The most common company-side concerns are clawback provisions, IP and confidentiality protections, and ensuring the comp structure achieves what it was designed to achieve.
Non-compete agreements are increasingly unenforceable in many jurisdictions. California, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Oklahoma already bar most non-competes. The FTC issued a rule attempting to ban most of them nationwide (currently in litigation). New York has limited them for certain workers. Even where non-competes remain enforceable, courts often refuse to enforce them as written if the scope, geography, or duration is excessive.
Non-solicits (restricting solicitation of clients or employees) are generally more enforceable but often overdrawn. Non-disparagement provisions cut both ways — they restrict what each party can say about the other, and most agreements should make them mutual. We draft restrictive covenants on the company side that are likely to actually be enforced (which means narrower than maximum) and we negotiate them on the employee side, often with more success than people expect.
The line between an employee and an independent contractor is enforced increasingly aggressively by tax authorities and labor regulators. Misclassification is expensive — the company can be liable for back taxes, missed benefits, overtime pay, and statutory penalties. The legal test isn't what the agreement says; it's what the actual working relationship looks like.
We draft independent contractor agreements that document the relationship correctly and minimize misclassification risk. Key clauses: scope of work definition, payment structure, IP assignment, confidentiality, term and termination, and clear language confirming contractor status. For companies that work with many contractors, we provide a template-based system. For high-stakes individual relationships (a senior consultant or board advisor), we draft customized agreements.
Employee handbooks document the company's policies on attendance, leave, discrimination and harassment, discipline, IT use, social media, expense reimbursement, and the dozens of other workplace topics that come up. A good handbook does two things: it gives employees a clear answer to common questions, and it gives the company a documented framework that helps defend against employment claims.
We draft handbooks customized to the size and structure of the business, the states where the company operates, and the specific industry. We also update existing handbooks when employment law changes — which it does frequently — and when companies grow into new states with different requirements. New York, New Jersey, and many other states have specific handbook content that's effectively required (or strongly advised) for legal protection.
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Flat-fee severance review typically ranges from around $750 to $2,500 depending on complexity — a straightforward release with no equity or restrictive covenants is on the lower end, while severance involving significant deferred compensation, vesting acceleration, or restrictive covenant negotiation costs more. The fee covers review, strategy, and negotiation through final signing. These are typical ranges, not promises — your matter might price within them, below them, or above them depending on the specific facts.
Both states enforce non-competes only when they're reasonable in scope, geography, and duration — and only when there's a legitimate business interest to protect. New York courts have grown increasingly skeptical of non-competes, and recent legislative attempts have aimed to restrict them further. New Jersey enforces non-competes more readily but still applies a reasonableness test. Whether the one you're being asked to sign is enforceable depends on the specifics — get it reviewed before you sign.
Almost never on the first read. Most severance agreements are negotiable, and most include terms — non-disparagement, broad releases, restrictive covenants, references to confidentiality — that benefit the employer at your expense. We tell you what's standard, what's not, and where there's leverage. The cost of review is typically a fraction of what we negotiate back for clients.
Yes. Flat-fee handbooks and workplace policy suites for small and growing employers in NY and NJ. We draft to comply with state law, NYC law where applicable, and the specific size and industry of your company. Annual update engagements available.
No. We focus on transactional employment work — contracts, severance, executive comp, restrictive covenants, and policies. Discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wage-and-hour litigation aren't part of our practice. If your matter involves a claim or potential claim, we'll tell you during the consultation and refer you to plaintiff or defense counsel that handles it.
Yes. The cost of reviewing and negotiating a non-compete before you sign is meaningfully less than the cost of dealing with one later. We assess whether it's enforceable, what's negotiable, and whether the scope can be narrowed. Often clients walk away with a much narrower restriction than what was originally proposed.
Yes. We handle senior-level employment agreements, equity grants, deferred compensation arrangements, and the 280G analyses that come up in change-in-control situations. Executive comp engagements price higher than standard employment review because the documents are more complex and the dollar amounts at stake are larger.
Tatyana Agarunov is admitted in both states, allowing direct representation for employees and employers under New York and New Jersey law — including the many people who live in one state and work in the other.
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