For many executives, equity is the most valuable part of their pay and the most vulnerable when they leave. FineCounsel helps executives protect stock options, restricted stock units, and deferred compensation at hiring, at departure, and in a change of control.
Issues we handle
- Exercise windows: most options expire 90 days after you leave, and incentive stock options lose their tax treatment if not exercised within three months.
- Unvested awards: negotiating single- or double-trigger acceleration, or partial acceleration as part of severance.
- RSUs and performance units: vesting conditions and the tax timing when awards accelerate.
- Committee approvals: making sure promised equity is actually approved, or backed by a cash alternative.
- Deferred compensation: Section 409A timing rules, lump sum versus installments, and what happens in an acquisition.
- Forfeiture and clawbacks: provisions that take back vested equity if you compete or are terminated for cause.
When to call
- When you receive an offer with an equity component.
- Before you sign a severance agreement, while acceleration and exercise windows are still negotiable.
- Right after a layoff, because the exercise clock is already running.
- When your company is being acquired.
FineCounsel coordinates with your CPA or tax advisor on the tax side of these decisions.
Related reading
- What happens to my stock options when I'm laid off?
- When the promise of equity is illusory: compensation committee approval
Common questions
My company says unvested equity is forfeited. Can that change?
Often it can. Acceleration of unvested equity is a standard request in a severance negotiation, because your release of claims has value.
I'm at a private company. Does the 90-day window still matter?
Yes, and often more. Exercising means paying cash for shares you can't easily sell, so negotiating a longer window can be worth a great deal.
Worried about equity you could lose?
FineCounsel protects executive equity in severance negotiations, offers, and acquisitions in North Carolina, Florida, and nationwide. Text 919-307-6311 for the fastest response.
Schedule a Confidential ConsultationAttorney advertising. This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading it. J. Andrew Fine is licensed to practice law in North Carolina (2004) and Florida (1997); matters in other jurisdictions may require local counsel. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.