Max

Max a very senior board level Director had worked for twenty years in a very well known public company. The CEO had decided to retire and there was the usual board room politics, and unfortunately Max was on the losing end. The new CEO decided to marginalise Max and demote him from the board or gave him the alternatively of resigning with a severance package. Max immediately picked up the phone for advice and sent us his compromise agreement with employment contract and related share schemes. We immediately advised Max he could claim constructive dismissal and enforce the contractual terms of his employment contract and share schemes. Our view was that the compromise agreement did not properly reflect the potential seven figure severance package.

Max took our advice and was told that the company had never paid the full amount and never would, and they had reasoned legal advice why this was the case. We asked for the legal rationale, and threatened that without being provided the same it was just a legal bluff. Our client received his full seven figure severance package. He is now enjoying life as a non executive Director in several public companies.

Adam and Ben worked for a high profile headhunting firm, and competed against each other to be the top performers in the firm. Senior management were very dubious of Adam and Ben's future intentions and feared that they may take a significant proportion of the firm's work, if they left together. The senior management first went after Adam to secure a long term commitment. The firm asked Adam to either resign immediately to receive his full commission or agree to stay for at least another nine months, if he left during this period he would lose all his commission.

We immediately advised Adam that the company's position was a fundamental breach of his employment contract and if he chose to resign he could make a claim for constructive dismissal. Adam explained he had always dreamt of starting his own company, but unfortunately the restrictive covenants made this a distant and impractical hope. We advised that if he were to resign due to the firm changing the terms of his financial package, a claim for constructive dismissal would stop the firm relying on the employment contract. The effect of the firm's action is similar to them tearing up the contract. Adam followed our advice.

The firm then discovered that Ben had taken confidential information and started Injunction proceedings. The City Law firm's strategy was to force Ben into very restrictive undertakings post employment and also land him with an astronomical legal bill of six figures to stop any chance of funding a new start up. We immediately started a damage limitation exercise. We closed down the litigation quickly and effectively and charged our client's a small fraction of what the City lawyers charged. Adam began an unfair dismissal claim and we negotiated much weaker undertakings with a hugely reduced legal bill from the City Solicitors.

Ben and Adam took a holiday of a few months and set up their successful headhunting firm, with the benefit of knowing that their restrictive covenants had been reduced by several months to clearly defined undertakings.