How much does a severance agreement review cost in El Paso?

Navar Law charges a flat fee for the review and memo, quoted before we start and based on the length and complexity of the package. Negotiation with the employer is a separate flat fee so you only pay for it if you want it. In most cases the review costs a small fraction of the severance amount and often identifies terms worth far more than the fee.

Do I have to accept a severance agreement in Texas?

No. Texas employers are not required to offer severance, and you are not required to accept it. If you decline, you keep any legal claims you have against the company but you also give up the payment. Your final earned wages are owed regardless of whether you sign, within six days under the Texas Payday Law if you were terminated. The decision depends on what the release covers and what you might be giving up.

Can I still get unemployment if I sign a severance agreement?

Usually yes, but timing matters. A severance agreement cannot waive your right to file with the Texas Workforce Commission. However, under Texas Labor Code § 207.049, severance pay allocated to specific weeks can delay benefits for those weeks, while a lump-sum payment that is not tied to a period generally does not. How the agreement describes the payment affects when your unemployment benefits start, which is one reason we review the wording carefully.

I am over 40. How long do I have to consider a severance offer?

Under the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, an employer asking you to release age discrimination claims must give you at least 21 days to consider the agreement, or 45 days if the termination is part of a group layoff, plus 7 days to revoke after you sign. The agreement must also tell you in writing to consult a lawyer. If your El Paso employer skipped these steps, the age-claim release is likely unenforceable.

Can a lawyer negotiate a better severance package?

Often, yes, especially when there is leverage such as a potential legal claim, a long tenure, or a non-compete the employer badly wants signed. Typical wins include additional weeks of pay, employer-paid COBRA, a neutral reference letter, removal of a clawback, or a shorter non-compete. We cannot promise a specific result, but a professional request made through counsel is taken more seriously than one made by a departing employee alone.

Severance Agreement Review El Paso

Severance Agreement Review in El Paso: Know What You Are Signing Away

An El Paso employment lawyer reads your severance package line by line, explains the release and restrictive covenants, and negotiates better terms when there is room. Flat fee, fast turnaround, no court.

Last reviewed by Robert Andrew Navar, Esq. · State Bar of Texas

A severance agreement lands on your desk at the worst possible moment, usually with a deadline attached and a manager hovering. El Paso workers see them after layoffs at call centers, hospital systems, federal contractors around Fort Bliss, regional banks and logistics companies along the border. The document offers money in exchange for your signature, but the signature is the expensive part: you are releasing every claim you may have against the employer, often agreeing to a non-compete or non-disparagement clause, and sometimes giving up unemployment or rehire rights without realizing it. A severance review tells you exactly what you are trading before you trade it.

Texas law does not require an employer to pay severance at all, so any offer is a contract, and contracts can be negotiated. Federal law adds protections that many El Paso employers overlook. If you are 40 or older, the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act amending the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (29 U.S.C. § 626(f)) requires the agreement to advise you in writing to consult a lawyer, give you at least 21 days to consider it (45 days in a group layoff), and allow 7 days to revoke after signing. A release that skips those steps does not waive age claims. Texas Business and Commerce Code § 15.50 governs any non-compete tucked inside, and a release cannot lawfully block a Texas Workforce Commission unemployment claim.

Navar Law reviews the full package, including any incorporated handbook, equity plan or prior confidentiality agreement, and sends you a plain-English memo of what each clause means and what we would change. If you want us to negotiate, attorney Robert Navar contacts HR or company counsel directly for more money, a neutral reference, COBRA contributions, a narrower release or a shorter non-compete. None of this involves a courtroom; it is a document exchange handled from our office on Vista Del Sol. Doing it yourself risks missing a hidden clawback, a mutual release the company forgot to make mutual, or an unemployment trap, and once you sign there is rarely a way back.

Clauses we flag in almost every El Paso severance package

The general release is the heart of the agreement and is usually written to cover every claim from the beginning of time through the date you sign, including claims you do not know about yet. We check whether it improperly tries to waive unpaid wages, workers' compensation, unemployment benefits or the right to file an EEOC charge, all of which have limits under federal and Texas law. We also look for a clawback that lets the company demand the money back if you breach a vague obligation.

Restrictive covenants come next: non-compete, non-solicitation of customers or coworkers, confidentiality and non-disparagement. In El Paso, where many industries are small and everyone knows everyone, a 12-month non-solicit can effectively lock you out of your field. We measure each covenant against Business and Commerce Code § 15.50 and tell you whether it is likely enforceable, whether it should be narrowed and whether the severance pay is actually enough to compensate you for it.

Deadlines, revocation and what happens after you sign

Read the deadline on the first page before anything else. Employers under 40-plus rules must give 21 or 45 days, but younger workers often get five business days or less, and an offer can be withdrawn if you miss it. Contact us the day you receive the document so we can review it and, if needed, request an extension in writing. If you are 40 or older and have already signed, you still have 7 calendar days to revoke; we can send that revocation on your behalf. Payment usually arrives on the next regular payroll date after the revocation window closes, and the release becomes binding at that point.

What's included

Full read of the severance agreement and every document it incorporates by reference
Written plain-English memo explaining each clause and rating its risk to you
OWBPA/ADEA compliance check for employees 40 and older (21/45-day and 7-day rules)
Analysis of any non-compete, non-solicit and confidentiality terms under Texas law
Confirmation that the release does not improperly block unpaid wages or unemployment benefits
Phone or Zoom consultation to answer your questions and decide on a negotiation strategy
Optional attorney-to-employer negotiation for improved terms, quoted as a separate flat fee

How it works

Send us the agreement

Email or text a photo or PDF of the severance package and note the deadline on it. We confirm the flat fee the same day and, if the deadline is tight, request an extension from your employer in writing.

Review and memo

Within two business days you receive a written clause-by-clause memo plus a call to walk through it. We tell you what is standard, what is unusual for El Paso employers and what we would push back on.

Negotiate or sign with confidence

If you choose negotiation, we contact HR or company counsel with specific requests. Otherwise you sign knowing exactly what you agreed to, and we calendar the revocation and payment dates for you.