Don't sign that severance agreement until someone on your side reads it.

What a severance agreement really is

When you leave a job, your employer may offer a severance package: a payment (and sometimes continued benefits) in return for your signature on a release. That release usually means you promise not to sue the company for anything that happened during your employment — including claims you may not even realize you have, like unpaid wages, discrimination, or retaliation.

Texas employers are generally not required to offer severance at all. So when they do, it's usually because the agreement benefits them. That doesn't make it a bad deal — but it does mean you should understand it before you sign.

What we look for when we review yours

• The scope of the release — exactly which rights you're giving up, and whether it reaches further than it should.
• Claims you may be waiving for free — if you have a real discrimination, retaliation, wage, or wrongful-termination claim, that claim may be worth more than the severance on the table.
• Restrictive covenants — non-compete, non-solicit, and non-disparagement clauses that can follow you into your next job.
• Whether the terms can be improved — severance is often negotiable, especially when there are underlying claims.
• Deadlines and revocation rights — older workers (40+) generally must be given time to consider and revoke under the OWBPA.

Why move quickly

Severance offers almost always come with a deadline — often seven to twenty-one days. A quick review early gives us room to spot problems and, where appropriate, negotiate before that window closes.

The fine print that follows you out the door

The dollar figure is the part everyone reads. The clauses below are the parts that matter a year later — and they're where we spend most of our review time:

• Non-disparagement — often written one-way, binding you but not the company. We look at whether it can be made mutual, and whether it's so broad it could chill truthful statements to a future employer or a government agency.
• Confidentiality of the agreement itself — some clauses are drafted so broadly you couldn't discuss the terms with a spouse or tax preparer without carve-outs.
• No-rehire provisions — language that quietly bars you from ever working for the company, its affiliates, or sometimes companies it later acquires. In DFW's consolidated industries, that can shrink your job market more than you'd expect.
• Carried-over restrictive covenants — severance agreements frequently "reaffirm" the non-compete or non-solicit from your original employment agreement, sometimes extending it. Signing can revive restrictions that might otherwise have been contestable.
• Cooperation clauses — open-ended promises to assist in the company's future litigation, occasionally unpaid. We look for time limits and compensation for your time.
• References and rehire codes — what the company will actually say when your next employer calls. A neutral-reference commitment costs the employer nothing and is often obtainable just by asking.
• Benefits mechanics — how the payment is characterized and timed, COBRA treatment, what happens to bonuses, commissions, and unvested equity that may already be earned.

Severance and your Texas unemployment benefits

A detail many DFW workers learn the hard way: how your payment is labeled can affect your unemployment claim. Under Texas Workforce Commission rules, true severance pay generally does not disqualify you from unemployment benefits — but payments characterized as "wages in lieu of notice" can delay when your benefits begin. The difference is drafting, not economics. It's one of the specific things we check in every review.

How the flat-fee review works

Severance review is one of the few legal products that works best as a simple, fixed-price engagement — so that's how we offer it:

• Send us the agreement (and the deadline you're working against).
• Flat fee, quoted in writing before we begin — no hourly meter, no surprises. The initial consultation about whether you need a review is free.
• You get a plain-English walkthrough — what you're releasing, the clauses that follow you, anything worth negotiating, and our candid read on whether you're leaving claims or money on the table.
• If negotiation makes sense, that's a separate decision with its own quoted scope — you'll never be rolled from a review into a bigger engagement without agreeing to it.

Reviews are typically turned around well inside your consideration window — tell us your deadline and we'll work to it.