Author Archives: joe

Is It Time To Hire a Criminal Defense Lawyer?

Posted on May 4, 2012 by joe

The intriguing and continuously unfolding Wal-Mart Mexican bribery story brings up an issue of great importance to executives these days: when it is time to find yourself a good criminal defense lawyer? After all, with Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank, and the Foreign … Continue reading →

Posted in CEOs, Complaints Against Executives, Criminal Prosecutions, Dodd-Frank, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Litigation, Sarbanes-Oxley | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Executives Who Resort to Fear, Intimidation Can Lose Support at All Levels

Posted on April 19, 2012 by joe

Watching the news, it’s hard not to notice a lot of executives losing the support of their companies’ boards of directors. The travails of recently resigned Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn come to mind, but there are others. What usually precedes … Continue reading →

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Negotiating Executive Compensation in an ‘Occupy’ Era

Posted on March 30, 2012 by joe

 To follow the news, it’s tempting to think that a good chunk of the country’s financial woes can be blamed on high executive compensation.   The latest incarnation of that resentment is the Occupy movement, as well as the “say-on-pay” provisions … Continue reading →

Posted in CEOs, Covenants Not to Compete, Executive Compensation, Stock Options | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Apple a Succession Planning, Corporate Culture Success Story

Posted on March 9, 2012 by joe

So the new iPad has come out, sending technophiles (which seems to be everybody these days) to the moon with glee. Combined with the recent news that Apple’s market capitalization recently broke the $500 billion mark, only the sixth company … Continue reading →

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Dodging Land Mines During a Job Search

Posted on February 23, 2012 by joe

Job changes are almost as inevitable these days as death and taxes, but lawsuits over them don’t have to be. There are all kinds of considerations an executive needs to keep in mind when looking for a job, depending on … Continue reading →

Posted in CEOs, Covenants Not to Compete, Executive contracts, Legal, Litigation, Trade Secrets | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

Is Your Pension Going to Be What You Think It’s Going to Be?

Posted on February 10, 2012 by joe

American Airlines’ request to have the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. bail out its $9 billion in unfunded pension obligations should have executives everywhere taking a hard look at their employer-funded retirement plans. Particularly for executives who work in troubled industries, … Continue reading →

Posted in CEOs, Executive Compensation, Legal, Pension plans | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

Employee Anti-Poaching Agreements Thwart the Free Market

Posted on January 27, 2012 by joe

An interesting case is playing out as we speak in Silicon Valley, where a group of high-tech employees has sued Google, Apple, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Adobe, Intel, and Intuit over an alleged “gentlemen’s agreement” not to recruit each other’s employees. In In … Continue reading →

Posted in CEOs, Executive contracts, Legal, Litigation, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

What to do when your successful business unit is sold

Posted on January 20, 2012 by joe

Success is sometimes rewarded in strange ways, such as when a company sells off a highly profitable business unit in order to raise cash (as Nestle did when it bought Cadbury and as Barnes & Noble is considering doing with … Continue reading →

Posted in CEOs, Change of Control Agreements, Dodd-Frank, Executive Compensation, Executive contracts, Legal, Retention agreements | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Negotiating a severance package

Posted on January 3, 2012 by joe

Litigation avoidance is very high on most companies’ priority lists, and when a company is considering letting an executive go, one of their biggest concerns is how to keep their soon-to-be-former executive from hiring someone like me to file a … Continue reading →

Posted in Covenants Not to Compete, Executive contracts, Legal, Stock Options | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

What’s the Best Way to Take People With You to a New Company?

Posted on December 12, 2011 by joe

I’ve devoted a couple of blogs (here and here) to what things executives should and should not take with them when they change employers. Simply playing that part right can help avoid litigation with former employers. Where it gets really … Continue reading →

Posted in CEOs, Covenants Not to Compete, Executive contracts, Fiduciary Duty, Legal, Litigation, Trade Secrets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off