Executive Employment Attorney in Boston, MA

Executive Employment • Executive Compensation • Employee Equity • Executive Advocacy

You’re a senior executive in Boston – C-suite, VP, managing director, or partner – and something has changed. Maybe you’re starting a new role and need your offer letter and equity grant reviewed before you sign. Maybe your company is being acquired and you’re trying to understand your change-of-control provisions and what acceleration you’re entitled to. Maybe you’ve been managed out and the separation package they’ve offered doesn’t reflect what you’re actually owed. Or maybe you’ve received a cease-and-desist from your former employer claiming you violated your non-compete. At the executive level, every one of these situations has significant financial consequences and requires counsel who understands both sides of the table. Mark Whitney spent 30+ years inside Boston’s major management-side employment firms before founding Whitney Law Group, advising the companies that employ executives on exactly the issues you’re now facing. That experience is now available to you.

Why Boston Executives Choose Whitney Law Group

The critical differentiator is Mark’s defense-side background. Most executive employment attorneys have spent their careers representing employees. Mark spent his representing employers, at two AmLaw 100 firms in New York and Boston, and as senior equity partner at Morgan, Brown & Joy, one of Boston’s oldest and most respected management-side employment boutiques. He has sat across the table from executives and their counsel hundreds of times. He knows how companies structure separation packages to minimize exposure, how HR and general counsel assess the risk of a legal claim, and where the real leverage in an executive dispute actually lies.

Whitney Law Group is located at 201 Washington Street in Boston’s Financial District, close to the major employers, financial institutions, and Kendall Square biotech companies that generate the majority of Boston’s executive employment work. AV Preeminent rated. 2025 Massachusetts Super Lawyer. Discreet, free consultations available.

Executive Services — What Whitney Law Group Covers

Executive Employment & Contracts

Offer letter review, employment agreement negotiation, board-level dynamics, fiduciary duty questions, for-cause termination disputes, and the full range of C-suite and VP-level representation. Whitney Law Group advises executives on the way in, during tenure, and on the way out.

Executive Compensation

Base salary, annual bonus, long-term incentive plans, deferred compensation arrangements (including 409A issues), change-of-control provisions, clawback clauses, garden leave, and golden parachute provisions. Whitney Law Group reviews executive compensation structures with an understanding of how they interact with separation terms and restrictive covenants, the pieces that are most often negotiated last and matter most.

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Employee Equity Compensation

Stock options (ISOs and NSOs), restricted stock units (RSUs), performance share units (PSUs), profits interests, and carried interest arrangements. Boston’s tech, biotech, and financial services executives routinely have equity as their largest compensation component, and the vesting schedules, forfeiture provisions, acceleration triggers, and post-termination exercise windows are where the most expensive mistakes happen. Whitney Law Group reviews equity grant agreements, negotiates accelerated vesting and equity protection in separation contexts, and advises on exercise timing (in coordination with your tax advisor).

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Executive Advocacy

Strategic advice and representation for executives navigating difficult workplace situations: performance improvement plans, internal investigations, board disputes, whistleblower situations, and exits, both voluntary and involuntary. Mark Whitney’s unique positioning as a former management-side attorney means he can anticipate the employer’s next move and counsel executives on how to protect themselves while still managing the relationship.

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Client Reviews: Boston Executives

"Mark and Kyle did an outstanding job of representing me in a difficult corporate negotiation process. They were extremely professional, timely, and knowledgeable. This led to a positive outcome which exceeded my expectations. I HIGHLY recommend!"

Timothy Gardella

Executive Advocacy Client

“I highly recommend Whitney Law Group and Mark Whitney for support with employment law and negotiating a separation agreement. Mark's expertise about the law, his experience and his calm clear thinking helped me understand my rights, the law and the facts. He worked with me to outline a plan for navigating my complex situation and stepped in to complete negotiations when needed. I am pleased with the ultimate outcome. I sincerely appreciate Mark's compassion and support.”

Amy O.

Executive Advocacy Client

FAQ: Executive Employment in Boston, MA

Q: My company is being acquired. What happens to my unvested equity and my non-compete?

Both are critical and often addressed poorly in acquisition transactions. On equity: your grant agreement and the acquisition terms determine whether unvested shares accelerate (single-trigger), vest on termination following the acquisition (double-trigger), or are simply assumed by the acquirer with no acceleration. Many executives discover these provisions only after the deal closes, when it’s too late to negotiate. On non-competes: acquisition-related non-competes signed in connection with the sale of a business are treated differently from employment non-competes under Massachusetts law and are generally held to a higher standard of enforceability. Whitney Law Group reviews both before you sign any acquisition-related documents.

Q: I’m being put on a performance improvement plan (PIP). How should I respond?

Carefully and strategically. A PIP is often a documentation strategy designed to build a record supporting a termination for cause, which would allow your employer to deny severance, trigger equity forfeiture provisions, and contest unemployment benefits. The right response depends on whether your employment agreement has a for-cause definition, what your equity plan says about cause terminations, and whether the PIP itself may reflect discriminatory or retaliatory motives. Whitney Law Group advises executives in PIP situations on how to respond in a way that protects their legal position without prematurely escalating the situation.

Q: How is executive separation different from a standard employee severance negotiation?

Significantly more complex. Executive separations typically involve multiple documents: a separation agreement, a consulting agreement, an equity amendment, and sometimes a board resolution. The issues include bonus proration, long-term incentive plan payouts, equity acceleration, deferred compensation distribution timing (governed by IRC 409A), D&O indemnification, continued benefits, and reference and announcement language. The stakes are higher, the leverage points are different, and the negotiation often involves the company’s general counsel and outside employment counsel directly. Whitney Law Group handles executive separations at this level of complexity.

Schedule Your Free Consultation Today.

Don’t navigate workplace disputes alone. Contact Whitney Law Group’s Boston employment lawyers for a free, confidential consultation about your executive employment rights, options, and next steps.