Legal Services for the Employer

At Wilchins Cosentino & Novins, our employment law attorneys offer a full breadth of legal services for employers including ongoing strategy, advice and counsel.

Preventative Counsel

As employment law attorneys we draft, review, negotiate and enforce a wide variety of contracts, agreements and policies to protect our clients’ businesses and business interests. We also counsel our clients with respect to proper classification of employees and independent contractors.

The employment attorneys at WCN provide ongoing guidance and legal counsel for hiring, evaluating employee performance, restructuring and terminating employees.

We provide guidance and advice on planning, structuring and addressing various  issues related to executive, management, and employee compensation, bonuses and incentives.  Such guidance and advice includes planning, structuring and drafting employment agreements, bonus plans, incentives, stock options and equity plans. As an alternative or supplement to equity based compensation plans, our employment attorneys provide guidance and advice with respect to phantom equity plans and supplemental bonus agreements and plans, such as long-term incentive plans and bonus opportunities, and transition and exit bonuses.

Our employment attorneys provide guidance and advice on planning, structuring and addressing issues related to executive, management and employee termination and related issues, including severance and release agreements and agreements regarding post-termination rights and restrictive covenants.

As employment lawyers, our services include crafting non-competes that are both protective and enforceable; establishing non-solicitations to help safeguard against the recruitment of key employees and customers/clients; establishing trade secret protection to develop and enforce policies protecting trade secrets and confidential information.

WCN’s preventative employment law services include:

• Employment agreements and contracts
• Agreements between suppliers, manufacturers, vendors, partners as well as licensing and other corporate agreements.
• Equity agreements including shareholder and buy-sell agreements
• Non-solicitation agreements
• Non-compete agreements
• Employee handbooks
• Workplace policies including time off, leaves of absence, sexual harassment and sick time.
• Separation agreements

Claims Defense and Litigation

When claims or investigations arise, we offer a full range of employment-related claim defense and litigation services representing our clients to bring resolution to such claims. We have the expertise and track record to bring resolution via administrative agencies including the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), litigating in state and federal courts or resolution of the matter through alternative dispute resolution (ADR).

As employment litigation attorneys, we represent employers in matters including the following:

• Discrimination
• Retaliation
• Harassment
• Wrongful termination
• Wage and hour disputes
• Breach of contracts
• Employee misclassification

Administrative Claims

For sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation claims, our employment lawyers represent clients before administrative agencies including the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), FINRA and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. We have a proven track record of successfully handling cases before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

Representative work includes:

• Claims of discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation
• Wage and hour disputes representing clients facing investigations of employment and labor matters by state and federal agencies.
• Employee misclassification

State and Federal Court

The employment lawyers at WCN represent our clients in state and federal courts in a wide variety of employment law matters including contracts and agreements, protecting trade secrets and intellectual property and resolving claims made by vendors, customers and/or employees.

Our employment law attorneys have a proven track record in litigating employment-related matters in the court system including the following:

• Claims related to protection of trade secrets and intellectual property.
• Contract disputes including breach of non-compete or non-solicitation agreements.
• Wrongful discharge and termination claims
• Workplace torts and common law claims, such as breach of contract, promissory estoppel, and interference with contractual relations, defending against an array of claims used as alternate strategies by employees and former employees.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

We represent clients in all forms of alternative dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation. We help our clients design and implement dispute resolution systems to manage and resolve employment disputes in a prompt and cost-effective manner. The employment attorneys at WCN represent clients in arbitration proceedings before FINRA and the American Arbitration Association.