8. Agreements – In General

"Trust in Allah, but tie your camel."
Arabian Proverb

Read our Newsletters and Q & A’s:

i. Specific Terms and Provisions

1. NL 1: Beware Disclosure of “Prior Inventions” and “Great Ideas”
2. NL 2: Don’t Be Fooled by the “May – Shall” Trick
3. NL 3: Know Who Your Employer Is? – You May Be Wrong.
4. NL 4: Non-Solicitation Does NOT Mean Non-Communication
5. NL 5: Robbery by Repurchase Rights – A Private Equity Story
6. NL 6: The Ambiguities Clause . . . What’s That?
7. NL 7: You Must Protect Your “B.O.B.” (Book Of Business, That Is)
8. NL 8: “Background Check” Provision – A Risk to Reduce or Eliminate Entirely
9. NL 9: “Change of Control” Provision – 10 Questions You Need to Ask
10. NL 10: “Employer’s Sole Discretion” Provisions – Six Points to Consider
11. NL 11: “I Am Not Restricted” Clause in Offer Letters – Potential Roadblock
12. NL 12: “In-The-Meantime” Clause – This is One to Remember, and Request
13. NL 13: “Incorporated by Reference” Provision – Brings in Other Agreements, etc
14. NL 14: “Integration” or “Entire Agreement” Clause – Nothing Spoken Counts
15. NL 15: “No Less Favorable” Clause – Helpful, Especially at Negotiation Impasse
16. NL 16: “Required Notice” Provision – A Suggested “Win – Win” for All
17. NL 17: “Successors and Assigns” Clause – Probably Valuable, If Correctly Written
18. NL 18: “Term” or “Duration” Clause – Here are 10 Alternative Improvements
19. NL 19: “This Contract Must Be Kept Confidential” Clause – Seven Points to Ponder
20. NL 20: “Whereas” Clauses – The “Introduction” Clauses – Don’t be Hoodwinked
21. QA 1: “Any way I can make sure I will get a promised promotion?”
22. QA 2: “Can we enforce an employer’s promise to employ us ‘for life?'”
23. QA 3: “Does a repayment obligation in an employment contract become invalid if there is no ‘survival clause?'”
24. QA 4: “If an agreement is signed by “J. Smith, Pres., XYZ Company,” is it a personal or company obligation?”
25. QA 5: “If I can’t get a work visa, can an employer withdraw a job offer?”
26. QA 6: “If laid off near year-end, am I entitled to partial bonus?”
27. QA 7: “In a ‘successors-and-assigns’ clause, what are the employee’s heirs obligated and entitled to?”
28. QA 8: “Is a change-in-control provision in an executive employment agreement the same as a separate change-in-control agreement?”
29. QA 9: “Should I get extra compensation for extra services and extra success by my employer?”
30. QA 10: “What are ‘Moral Rights’ in things I create at work?”
31. QA 11: “What if my employment contract and employee handbook conflict?”
32. QA 12: “What is a ‘change of control’ for vesting purposes?”
33. QA 13: “Are employers required to reimburse internet expenses for home-based employees?”
34. QA 14: “Is this ‘Successors and Assigns’ clause a problem?”
35. WD 1: Boilerplate – Key Words & Phrases
36. WD 2: Mitigation – Key Words & Phrases

ii. Unique Situations

1. NL 1: Continuing Indemnity – A Key Objective for Corporate Officers
2. NL 2: Job Change? Ten Tax Tips – Things to discuss with your tax advisor
3. NL 3: Negotiating Employment with a “Private Equity” Firm – 7 Surprises to Expect
4. NL 4: Retention Agreement Contain a Release? If So, It Just Might Be Your Severance
5. NL 5: “Becoming a Consultant? – Here are 21 Smart Points to Raise”
6. NL 6: “Repayment Obligations When Leaving a Job – How to Get Them Waived”
7. QA 1: “Can an employer take back a Change Of Control ‘trigger’?”
8. QA 2: “Can I get out of a signed employment contract?”
9. QA 3: “Can vague words in an offer letter create a repayment promise?”
10. QA 4: “How should I ask for a retention bonus?”
11. QA 5: “I don’t get paid for cancelled appointments, although the company is. Should I?”
12. QA 6: “If an employee has a Master’s Degree paid for by an employer, based on the employee’s promise to stay three years, or repay the $30,000, what happens if the employee is laid off?”
13. QA 7: “Is a change-in-control provision in an executive employment agreement the same as a separate change-in-control agreement?”
14. QA 8: “No non-compete, but my prospective employer has signed a ‘No-Poach’ agreement. What do I do?”
15. QA 9: “How should I negotiate a job offer that includes relocating to another country?”
16. WD 1: Fiduciary – Key Words & Phrases
17. WD 2: “Waterfall Distribution” – What’s That? The Private Equity Pitch to Employees

iii. Negotiation

1. NL 1: “In Hiring Memos, Offer Letters and Employment Agreements, Beware of ‘Words of Intention'”
2. NL 2: Contracts Matter. . . A Lot
3. NL 3: How to Give Yourself the Job Security and other Benefits of an Employment Contract
4. NL 4: Offered a Position and Shares in a Start-Up? – 10 Traps in the Legal Papers, and Your Ways Out
5. NL 5: Sign a Copy Today . . . Just in Case You’re Not “Around” Tomorrow
6. NL 6: “Change of Control” Provision – 10 Questions You Need to Ask
7. NL 7: “Employer Ask You to Sign an Agreement? Ask Your Employer to Pay Your Legal Cost”
8. NL 8: “Incorporated by Reference” Provision – Brings in Other Agreements, etc
9. NL 9: “Motivate Before You Monetize” – A Workplace Negotiation Pointer
10. NL 10: “Need a Work Document from HR? Afraid to Ask? – Here’s How”
11. NL 11: “Umbrella Negotiating” – Best Response to Private Equity “Hurricane Tactics”
12. QA 1: “Can my employer require I sign an employment contract long after I started the job, and fire me if I refuse?”
13. QA 2: “If the employment contract I was promised does not arrive, should I leave?”
14. QA 3: “My employment contract was replaced by a second one I didn’t sign. Is the second one binding on me?”
15. QA 4: “Can my boss tell me I have to renegotiate signed customer contracts, or suffer lower commissions if I can’t?”
16. QA 5: “How should I negotiate a job offer that includes relocating to another country?”
17. QA 6: Workplace Negotiating Insight No. 15: “Standard Language” . . . There’s no such thing.

iv. Enforcement

1. NL 1: “Garden Leave’s Little Secret: It is Not Very Enforceable”
2. QA 1: “Can a non-compete agreement require that New York law applies even if the company is not in New York?”
3. QA 2: “Can my bonus plan be changed due to a supposed mistake, after agreed to in a contract?”
4. QA 3: “Can we enforce an employer’s promise to employ us ‘for life?'”
5. QA 4: “Employer has reneged on all agreed terms. What are my rights?”
6. QA 5: “If my friend is not getting paid what was promised in her offer letter, does she have any way to correct this?”
7. QA 6: “Lured into making a job move by an oral promise of six years’ work. Let go after four years. Do I have any recourse?”
8. QA 7: “When is it too late to get recourse?”
9. QA 8: “Can I enforce an agreement to raise my pay if most, but not all, of the required conditions were achieved?”
10. QA 9: “Can I fight my employer for enforcing a rule on me on the basis that others break the rules, too?”
11. QA 10: “Do I have any recourse if my job responsibilities, and income, are taken from me without notice?”

v. General

1. NL 1: “Probation period in offer letter was extended; can they do that?”
2. NL 2: Make a “Go File” . . . Pleeeeeze
3. NL 3: Sign a Copy Today . . . Just in Case You’re Not “Around” Tomorrow
4. NL 4: The “Survival Clause” in Employment Agreements – Ignore It, and It Can “Kill” You
5. NL 5: The Employee’s “Duty to Mitigate” – What Does That Mean?
6. NL 6: Workplace Negotiating Insight No. 10: No Road Signs
7. NL 7: “At Work, Always Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth”
8. NL 8: “Employer’s Sole Discretion” Provisions – Six Points to Consider
9. NL 9: “If You Sign Something At Work, SAVE A COPY” – A Critical Workplace Negotiating Insight
10. NL 10: “Side Letter” – Use to Amend “Standard” or “Existing” Agreements
11. QA 1: “Can an employer change a compensation plan retroactively?”
12. QA 2: “Employment Contract Broken by Employer; New Job Found Right Away: What am I Entitled to?”
13. QA 3: “If an employee has a Master’s Degree paid for by an employer, based on the employee’s promise to stay three years, or repay the $30,000, what happens if the employee is laid off?”
14. QA 4: “If I am offered my dream job, but my teaching contract says I can’t leave, how do I handle it?”
15. QA 5: “If my former employer closes, and opens a new company, is my non-compete (or other contracts) valid?”
16. QA 6: “Offer Letter differs from Employment Contract; which controls?”
17. QA 7: “Prior notice is required; can I retire now anyway?”
18. QA 8: “Probation period in offer letter was extended; can they do that?”
19. QA 9: “How might I resign, and get the balance of my employment contract paid out to me?”
20. QA 10: “Once an employment agreement has been terminated, two months later can the employer terminate it again, for a different reason?”
21. QA 11: “When an agreement ‘expires’ on a certain date, do you have to also give ‘notice’ of leaving?”
22. QA 12: “Can I Work for a Licensee or Vendor of my Former Employer?”
23. WD 1: Boilerplate – Key Words & Phrases
24. WD 2: Mitigation – Key Words & Phrases