Can things get worse?
Just as we seem to be emerging from two years of the pandemic, and starting to feel that, with vaccinations and new treatments, not every diagnosis of COVID-19 need be a sentence of serious illness or even death,... Read More
6 Frequently Asked Questions About Contract Negotiations by College and University Presidents, Other Senior Academics and Heads of Independent Schools
As executive employment attorneys who concentrate on negotiating the contracts for college and university presidents, deans and provosts, and the heads of independent schools, we hear many of the same questions by these academic leaders as they prepare for contract negotiations. They... Read More
The Need for Negotiation – Part 1: College and University Presidents and Independent School Heads
Marty Latz, one of my favorite negotiation gurus, recently wrote a fascinating blog about the failure of negotiations to avoid the war in Ukraine. One of Latz’s salient points was that Vladimir Putin, who only understands crude power as leverage in a... Read More
Is an Offer Letter an Executive Employment Contract?
As executive employment attorneys, when we ask new clients to send us their employment documents for review, we often hear the comment, “I don’t have an employment agreement, just an offer letter.” This is particularly true in the financial services industry and... Read More
The Need for Indemnities and Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance for Presidents and Other Senior Executives
In approaching any executive employment agreement, attorneys who represent executives focus on two primary tasks:
First, securing and, if possible, increasing the benefits of the agreement for their executive client, including but not limited to base salary, bonuses, deferred compensation, equity or... Read More
“Different Strokes”: Some of the Ways in Which Executives in Education, Finance, Industry and Media Can Best Use the Services of an Executive Employment Attorney
How should an executive, whether a college president, a finance executive, or a senior leader in media or industry, best use an executive employment attorney?
This question arises because even sophisticated individuals use a lawyer on an infrequent basis. As opposed to... Read More
The Importance of the Academic Hiring Cycle for College and University Presidents
Why is it important for executive employment attorneys who regularly advise college and university presidents and other senior leaders in higher education to understand the peculiar hiring cycle to which these presidents and deans are most often subject?
The answer is clear.... Read More
The Promise and Perils of Executive Equity Awards — Part 3
Continuing our exploration of the questions necessarily asked by an experienced executive employment attorney assessing a particular executive’s potential equity award(s):
3. What happens to the accumulated equity, vested or unvested, when the executive resigns or is terminated?
Here, too,... Read More
The Promise and Perils of Executive Equity Awards — Part 2
What are some of the important terms and conditions which a knowledgeable executive employment attorney looks for in reviewing an executive’s proposed equity award?
Everything begins with a detailed review and analysis of the plan documents which govern the award, in addition... Read More
The Promise and Perils of Executive Equity Awards — Part 1
My late father relished the following story, which should stand as a cautionary tale for executive employment attorneys and their clients.
A salesman was making a great deal of money on commissions. He had just finished his best year ever when the... Read More