Terminating the Employment Relationship

The second type of attorneys’ provision requires a breaching party to pay the other party’s attorneys’ fees in the event the other party has to initiate legal action to enforce the agreement. Without such a clause, if a party breaches the agreement, the other party would pay its own fees in any legal action for breach of the agreement. An attorneys’ fees provision encourages the parties to perform their obligations under the agreement. The following is a sample of the second type of attorneys’ fees provision :

If any dispute shall arise concerning the execution, interpretation, breach, enforcement, or modification of this Agreement and/or if any party shall commence a civil action to resolve that dispute, the Court shall award to the prevailing party, in addition to such other relief as may be appropriate, attorneys' fees and expenses actually incurred in resolving that dispute and any resulting litigation.

There may be circumstances where including an attorneys’ fees provision is unwise. If an employer anticipates potential problems in performing its obligations under the agreement, it may choose not to include the provision.

5. C ONFIDENTIALITY AND D ISCLOSURE Confidentiality clauses prevent one or both parties from releasing information regarding the terms of an agreement. This type of clause can be unilateral (applicable to only one party) or bilateral (applicable to both parties). Employers often desire to include a confidentiality provision in an agreement to avoid the terms being disclosed to other employees, claimants or the public, to the extent possible. It is crucial that a confidentiality clause contain a statement that permits disclosure of the terms when required by law. Without such a statement, a confidentiality clause, and potentially the entire agreement, is unenforceable. The following is a sample unilateral confidentiality clause:

Jones represents and agrees that the terms and amount of this Agreement are completely confidential and will not be communicated to any third party, including, but not limited to, any past, present or prospective employees of the City and/or attorneys for such employees, or any members of the news media. Jones expressly agrees to refrain from making any comments or statements about Jones’ claims, or this Agreement except the following: "The matter has been resolved." Notwithstanding the foregoing language, Jones may make such disclosures as are required by court order, law, and as necessary for legitimate law enforcement or compliance purposes, and Jones may disclose the fact and monetary amount of this Agreement to his spouse, respective tax advisors, and/or

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