When conflicts in the workplace require legal recourse, both employee and employer benefit from seeking counsel. Markets and workplaces are increasingly complex and regulated. The lawyers at Malecki Law aim to aid professionals in finding the right solutions that will help them in transition within the workforce, as well as obtain the various types of agreements, compensation, deferred compensation, stock, and options to which they are entitled. Furthermore, some professionals should be protected and indemnified by their employers, if appropriate, when subjected to investigations and litigation relating to their employment or former employment. Employees and executives must not agree to inappropriate non-competition or confidentiality provisions that could restrict future employment or prove a springboard for future litigation, and ensure that their employment and any issues relating thereto are properly documented in publicly available filings.

Malecki Law’s team offers counsel to clients on a wide array of employment issues, both to avoid litigation, and to institute or defend actions when necessary. Such matters of negotiation or dispute include:

• Negotiation of High Level Executive Compensation Packages and Non-Competition Agreements
• Promissory Note Arbitration and Litigation Defense ("sign-on bonuses")
• Severance Package Termination Agreements
• Compensation, Bonus & Commission Disputes
• Disclosing Outside Business Activity
• “The Protocol” in transitions between brokerage firms
• Discrimination and/or Harassment (Gender, Age, Race, Religion, Sexual Orientation)
• Employment Contract Negotiation and Drafting
• Drafting & Negotiation of Employment Policies
• Business to Business contracts
• Defamation and Libel

U-4/U-5 and RIA Reporting and Expungement

Public filings must be made by broker-dealers, investment advisors and issuers of securities to report employment, litigation and arbitration events and other information. These filings are frequently revised to incorporate changes. The lawyers at Malecki Law have the knowledge needed to ensure that these procedures are appropriately followed to the letter of the law, keeping reporting within the legal perimeters put forth by regulators fighting to correct misstatements or errors.

For more information:

• FINRA Notice to Members 04-16 (April, 2004): Regarding Expungement of Customer Dispute Information from the Central Registration Depository
• FINRA Broker Check: “A free tool to help investors research the professional backgrounds of current and former FINRA-registered brokerage firms and brokers.”
• SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure: information about current representatives and firms registered with the SEC.