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Our Settlement Agreement Service

Our employment lawyers have extensive experience in advising employees, directors, and shareholders on their settlement agreements.

Our settlement agreement solicitors recognise that pragmatic and commercial advice provided in a timely manner is essential in order to resolve disputes and maximise professional and personal opportunities. 

We also know when a robust approach can be most effective and are used to dealing with the largest employers, in 'without prejudice' discussions, to secure the best deal possible for our clients.

Myerson are often asked by large national law firms to act for senior executives because they know they can safely recommend our expertise and settlement agreement service. 

Your dedicated settlement agreement solicitor can advise you on what a reasonable settlement agreement is in the context of your circumstances, and we can assist you in negotiating the terms of your exit package, including financial compensation and other benefits (share schemes, pension plans, bonuses, long term incentive arrangements, insurances), notice periods and timing of departure, garden leave, director resignations, announcements (including stock exchange announcements) and minimising post-termination limitations on future work. 

We also always seek to secure full payment of our client's legal fees by the employer.

In addition, we have extensive experience in the use of settlement agreements in commercial transactions, particularly in relation to corporate restructures and business sales and purchases.

We can provide independent legal advice to executives quickly and effectively in these circumstances to ensure that commercial timescales are not jeopardised.

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Why Choose Us to Be Your Settlement Agreement Solicitors?

Choose our settlement agreement solicitors based on our experience.

Recent examples of our work with settlement agreements include:

  • Acting for various senior executives leaving a national retailer, negotiating substantial severance arrangements, including the protection of future bonus, loyalty and LTIP arrangements
  • Assisting senior executives leaving an FTSE 100 company, including dealing with individuals seconded abroad with rights in foreign jurisdictions as well as in the UK and tax equalisation issues
  • Negotiating a six-figure exit package for a senior employee against a household name company through without prejudice conversations and successfully securing termination packages for other employees from the same company in relation to a redundancy settlement agreement
  • Advising a Finance Director leaving a listed PLC, securing favourable exit terms, and maintaining their reputation through carefully drafted announcements and references, including the required stock exchange announcement
  • Advising senior executives on the scope of their restrictive covenants, options in relation to future employment and negotiating carve-outs from restrictive covenant obligations as part of exit arrangements
  • Advising equity partners of international law firms, negotiating exit arrangements, and securing the best possible packages whilst protecting reputation

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Why Work with Our Settlement Agreement Solicitors?

Our specialist team of employment solicitors is described in the independent Legal 500 directory as "excellent" and are highly recommended in the Legal 500.

Therefore, you can be assured that you will be dealing with some of the best employment solicitors in the country.

We are determined and robust on your behalf, but also easy to deal with and clear in our advice.

Our solicitors will fight your corner, but we understand that a common-sense approach is often required to find solutions that work for you in the context of your professional and personal circumstances.

In particular, our employment lawyers offer:

  • City centre standards of employment law advice and service levels due to our policy of recruiting only the best specialist employment solicitors.
  • Clear and straightforward UK employment law advice that is user-friendly, pragmatic, and commercial.
  • Extensive experience in advising various employees, including senior executives, directors and partners with complex employment concerns.
  • A credible team of employment law solicitors that are used to dealing with and providing legal representation against large employers and law firms on behalf of our clients.
  • A partner-led service and a genuinely accessible team of experienced employment law solicitors due to our size, structure, and unique culture.
  • Cost-effective support tailored to your unique employment issues and certainty on costs where you need it.

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Testimonials

Settlement Agreement FAQs

What is a settlement agreement?

An employment settlement agreement is essentially a legally binding contract between an employer and their employee, which usually brings the employee's employment to an end and or settles a workplace dispute or  other claims (including unfair dismissal claims) and thereby relieves the company of any liability or future legal action.

Examples of a workplace dispute could be when an employee is discriminated against, unfairly dismissed, or has their employment contract breached.

In order to avoid this situation, along with any associated legal costs and any potential damage to the reputation of the employer's brand, the company might be keen to offer the employee a financial settlement.

If the employee signs the settlement agreement, then they will receive that amount of money but will waive their right to bring an employment claim against the company.

Conversely, there does not need to have been a dispute.

An employer and employee can have a 'without prejudice' conversation. This means any discussions are inadmissible if the employee were to bring an unfair dismissal claim or another employment-related claim.

An employer may want to avoid having to follow the usual disciplinary or redundancy procedure, or an employee may want to leave the company on amicable terms and have an 'elegant exit' before the employment relationship becomes strained.

What is a compromise agreement?

A compromise agreement is another term for a settlement agreement.

Compromise agreements are legally enforceable contracts established between a company and an employee, wherein the employee consents to let go of potential claims while the employer usually commits to providing financial compensation.

Occasionally, additional benefits may be incorporated into the compromise agreement for the employee's advantage, such as a mutually agreed upon reference letter.

Do I need to instruct settlement agreement solicitors?

Because signing a settlement agreement will mean that you lose the right to bring a legal claim against your employer, you need to seek legal advice from an independent solicitor (or other qualified person) to ensure that the settlement agreement is legally valid.

Should I accept a settlement agreement?

There are often pros and cons to accepting a settlement agreement, and these very much depend on your individual situation.

You should not feel pressured to sign a settlement agreement quickly: it is often better to go and take time to consider the offer and take legal advice.

You are under no obligation to answer immediately, and while the employer may be able to withdraw the offer, they most likely will be as eager for a resolution as you are.

Keep in mind that the ACAS Code of Practice on Settlement Agreements recommends that employers provide at least ten days for employees to consider their offer, and this is the minimum timescale in the context of a 'protected conversation'.

Getting legal advice can help you understand whether you wish to accept or reject the offer and whether there is any scope to improve the offer or its terms so that they better suit you.

We can provide you with an expert opinion on:

  • Whether the settlement agreement is fair;
  • What a reasonable settlement agreement is, in the context of your circumstances;
  • Whether there are any other options available to you;
  • The strength of your case, whether you would likely win if you didn't sign the settlement agreement and pursued a claim in the Employment Tribunal instead; and
  • The potential value of that claim.

Can you negotiate a settlement agreement?

If your employer offers you a settlement, don't be afraid to make a counteroffer.

Employers often leave room within their budget to increase the offer if necessary. This, of course, means that, yes, there may be scope to negotiate a settlement agreement.

The key to a good negotiation, however, is not to try and 'beat' the other party, which will only create ill will and make the negotiation considerably more difficult. Instead, you should seek to reach an outcome that everyone is happy with. It will also make it that much easier and faster to come to an agreement.

Consider what is reasonable: What are you giving up? Do you have a strong claim? How long may it take you to find a new job on a comparable salary? How much can the organisation afford? Essentially, what is a reasonable settlement agreement in the circumstances of your case?

One very useful step is to have an idea, in your mind, of how much you would be willing to accept and how much you would ideally aim for. You will likely end up settling somewhere in between.

If you need settlement agreement advice, speak to a settlement agreement lawyer from Myerson Solicitors.

Is there a cost to accepting a settlement agreement?

Because you need to go through the terms of the settlement agreement with an independent and qualified lawyer, there will be a cost associated with this.

The cost varies depending on the complexity of the agreement and whether you are looking for any assistance in negotiating the terms and the value of the offer.

In most circumstances, because the employer is aware that you are obliged to get independent legal advice, they will contribute towards some or all of your legal fees.

You should check the terms of the settlement agreement for details as to how much your employer is prepared to contribute towards your fees, if any.

For more information, please read our Guide to Settlement Agreements

Meet Our Employment Solicitors

Home-grown or recruited from national, regional or City firms. Our employment lawyers are experts in their fields and respected by their peers.

Jo E final

Joanne Evans

Jo is a Partner and Head of our Employment Team

Jo Hen

Joanne Henderson

Jo is a Partner in both our Employment and Compliance Teams

Charlotte G

Charlotte Gilbert

Charlotte is the Head of Myerson HR and a Partner in our Employment Team

Jack L final

Jack Latham

Jack is a Senior Associate in our Employment Team

Vicki

Vicki Fagan

Vicki is an Associate in our Employment Team

Amy S

Amy Salim

Amy is an Associate in our Employment Team

Anjali final

Anjali Brown

Anjali is a Solicitor in our Employment Team

Kurt final

Kurt Reilly

Kurt is a Solicitor in our Employment Team

Issy final

Isobel Barton

Isobel is a Solicitor in our Employment Team

Meg R

Meghan O'Rourke

Meghan is a Senior Legal PA in our Employment Team

Meet the team Placeholder 1 v2

Jessica Pratt

Jessica is a Legal PA in our Employment Team.

Contact Our Experts

You can contact our lawyers below if you have any more questions or want more information:

0161 941 4000