At Reid H. Ervin & Associates, P.C., our law firm provides comprehensive and experienced professional consulting services throughout Norfolk, Virginia, and surrounding communities. We help executive, professional and public official employees navigate though complex issues in the workplace, including investigations. High-level employees are not usually terminated suddenly and without notice but are instead subjected to a lengthy but subtle process typically ending in a force-out. Navigating your way through the rocks and shoals of personnel policies and procedures can be a complex and high-staked task. Our previous clients have included: CEOs, CFO’s, Vice Presidents of both regional and national companies; Attorneys, Physicians, and Senior Sales Personnel; University Deans and high-level public employees. If you are facing an investigation or believe you are being forced-out from your position, you simply have too much to lose not to let an experienced employment law attorney guide you.
Noncompete Agreements
If you are an executive-level or professional employee, you may be subject to a noncompete agreement which limits your ability to seek other employment in your field, even after termination. Violation of a noncompete agreement can result in serious consequences for the employee including court injunctions against certain employment, damages suffered by the former employer, and forfeiture of income and profits from the venture. However, such agreements are generally not favored under Virginia‘s evolving law on noncompete issues, and so we typically encourage our clients to take a preemptive approach in noncompete cases. If a noncompete agreement is keeping you from obtaining employment or transitioning to another company, you need a law firm that favors precision, substance, and efficient results over protracted legal brawls.
Employment Contracts, Compensation, and Severance Agreements
We advise and represent individuals in their compensation packages and retirement plans. An employee is sometimes asked to sign an assortment of employment-related agreements upon being hired, which may include an employment contract involving different types of benefit and compensation packages. Before agreeing to the company’s offer, it is important to obtain the advice of an employment law attorney, as the written agreements dictate the terms of your employment, including separation, and your ability to transition to another company down the road.
Upon termination or separation, companies typically offer a severance package to their high-level employees, but by signing the agreement, the employee waives any claim he may have against the company, including the company’s failure to abide by its employment or compensation agreements with the employee. Forfeiting these claims can cost the employee a great deal of money. Moreover, these agreements frequently provide benefits the employee would be entitled to anyway. We are familiar with the terms, conditions and compensations offered in severance packages and have experience advising individuals with respect to the fairness of those agreements and whether the individual is forfeiting any valuable legal rights by signing the agreement.
With more than 30 years of legal practice, Reid Ervin has obtained critical business knowledge that enables him to give competent consulting advice. Contact our Norfolk executive consulting attorneys for a consultation.
