Baltimore Executive Employment Lawyer

When you are a high-level executive, your employment agreement is not just a formality, it is a document that shapes your career, compensation, and professional freedom for years to come. Getting the terms right requires someone who understands both employment law and what you need to thrive.

As a Baltimore executive employment lawyer practicing throughout Maryland, I have spent decades helping executives evaluate these agreements at every step of the process. I will take the time to understand your aspirations and the particulars of what you have been offered, and work with you toward terms that genuinely serve your interests rather than just your employer’s.

Understand Your Compensation Package

Your salary as a high-level executive is only one key component of your compensation package. Bonuses, incentive plans, opportunities to acquire equity, and generous benefits are equally or even more valuable.

I have spent my career working with and supporting executives as a skilled employment attorney: I understand all sectors of the market in Baltimore and throughout Maryland, and I know what you should expect as an executive in your industry. This information, combined with a deep understanding of your goals, drives our negotiation strategy.

If there are aspects of the package that are unduly limiting, we can consider negotiating to bring the terms into closer alignment with your career and personal aspirations. Negotiation is almost always an option: when it is not, that rigidity is something you will want to take into account in deciding whether to accept the opportunity.

Are There Hidden Risks in Executive Agreements?

Working together to parse the technical legal language can help reveal real risk lurking in an employer-drafted agreement. When you work with me, as an experienced executive employment lawyer in Baltimore, I can identify these risks and help you mitigate them, or at least fully understand them before you make a final decision.

Non-disclosure or non-compete clauses may unreasonably limit your future professional mobility. Arbitration clauses can severely restrict your ability to assert your rights in the court system, which is the more fair venue for employee rights. Seemingly formulaic, innocuous language could compromise rights you assume are protected.

Clauses referring to employment at will can leave you vulnerable to termination without notice, and with little or no recourse. That is why it is vital to try to build severance terms into your executive employment agreement.

Restrictive Covenants and Non-Compete Clauses

As a high-level executive, you are privy to valuable information about the company’s trade secrets, strategies, products or services in development, and other proprietary information. The company has the right to protect itself from improper disclosure or use of its business information, and may do so by including restrictive covenants in its employment contracts. Non-compete, non-disclosure, and non-solicitation provisions are the most common forms of restrictive covenants.

Many employment contracts contain overly restrictive prohibitions. Healthcare professionals and some workers in veterinary medicine have special protections under Maryland law. If you are employed in these sectors, I will ensure you receive the full benefit of these legal protections. For executives in non-healthcare sectors, these clauses are enforceable if they are reasonable in scope and duration.

Restrictive covenants can be negotiable. Together we will scrutinize the proposed employment contract and flag any excessively broad provisions that unfairly limit your future activities. These clauses can sometimes be revised to protect your prospective employer while allowing you a reasonable degree of flexibility in your future endeavors. And again, when the prospective employer refuses to consider your right to lawfully pursue future endeavors, that rigidity is something you may want to take into account in deciding whether to accept the opportunity.

Consult My Baltimore Law Office If You Have Been Offered an Executive Position

When you are considering an employment agreement, understanding the implications of every clause is essential. As a Baltimore executive employment lawyer serving clients throughout Maryland, I have the experience, knowledge, and skills to understand how the contract might impact you moving forward and get it to where you want it.

Together, we can decide if the offer aligns with your vision for your career and how you might negotiate desirable changes. Schedule an appointment with me at the Law Office of Kathleen Cahill today.