Senior Executive Unit
Given the importance of employment in our modern lives, expert employment law advice is essential. Guidance before, during and on termination will help protect your personal interests and maximise your earnings.
Our Senior Executive Unit provides expert legal advice and guidance to senior executives, directors, partners, professionals and others.
We have extensive experience of the financial services sector and have successfully negotiated a great many high value settlements. As we act for both employees and businesses, we are able to anticipate strategies used by HR departments, in-house counsel, and external employment lawyers.
We cover the full spectrum of employment, partnership and discrimination law:
- Negotiating settlement agreements (formerly compromise agreements)
- Advising on new offers of employment, partnership and employment contracts
- Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulatory issues
- Advising on breach of contract claims and bonus disputes
- Unfair dismissals
- Strategic advice on post-termination restrictions
- Dealing with equity compensation schemes
- Negotiating executive service agreements
- Advising on discrimination and equal pay issues
- Advising on team moves
- Conducting High Court and Employment Tribunal litigation
Our experience of acting for high net-worth individuals includes:
Settlement Agreements
- Advising on large scale redundancies following outsourcing and off-shoring
- Negotiating termination packages following actual or manufactured redundancy situations
- Advising on and then negotiating ‘good leaver’ status under deferred equity schemes and shareholder agreements
- Negotiating favourable terms and termination packages following alleged conduct and capability dismissals
- Negotiating release from post-termination restraints
- Advising on constructive dismissal situations and negotiating favourable terms and termination packages
- Ensuring threshold complaint status under FCA Form C and references
Offers of employment
- Guiding senior managing directors on post-termination obligations during moves between investment banks
- Negotiating and amending contractual documentation for high net-worth individuals in financial institutions
- Advising on the enforceability of restrictive covenants
- Advising on replacement stock, guaranteed bonuses, sign-on bonuses, deferred bonuses and other incentive schemes
Litigation
- Advising senior analysts in high value claims against investment banks for failure to pay a “discretionary” bonus
- Successfully representing senior executives in discrimination claims (sex discrimination; maternity discrimination; disability discrimination; race discrimination; sexual orientation discrimination; age discrimination; equal pay) and negotiating substantial six-figure compensation packages
- Negotiating a very high value settlement on behalf of a director of a commodity trading company
- Negotiated a complex six figure termination settlement for a Finance Director of a Hedge Fund
FSA / FCA matters
- Negotiating Form C withdrawals
- Advising on regulatory investigations
- Liaising with other advisors on potential criminal charges
A substantial element of our senior executive base is derived from clients’ recommendations.