Your employment contract and practice ownership agreements (i.e. shareholder agreements, practice purchase agreements, partnership agreements) play a critical role in determining the direction of your career. These issues are critical at any time in your career but may be most important post-residency or fellowship, when you are taking that first step. It is always important that you work with an attorney who can help you understand the legal and business ramifications of your agreements and negotiate and design them to meet your financial and personal objectives.
Adam Appleberry, a healthcare attorney at Tucker Arensberg, regularly reviews physician practice and employment contracts. He has the experience to help you achieve your goals and avoid the pitfalls that many physicians face when negotiating a contract. Adam worked closely with Mike Cassidy, a healthcare attorney with over 40 years experience, prior to Mike’s retirement in October 2025.
Adam Appleberry will provide you with a detailed review of your contracts. It is also recommended that you review the article – Basic Issues for New Physician Contracts.
Your employment contract review will cover:
- Thorough description of your contract provisions
- Employment bargaining positions and fallbacks
- Interview strategy coaching
- Employee benefit analysis
- Restrictive covenant/non-competition issues
- Salary negotiation
Ownership documents require analysis of additional issues:
- Purchase price
- Payment options to minimize tax consequences
- Fair market value
- Governance issues
- Financial statements analysis
- Estate planning consequences
Adam’s regular fee for this analysis is $300/hour. For a thorough review and representation in the negotiation process, you should expect to devote an average of 3-7 hours, with the greater time usually associated with ownership issues. However, residents and fellows benefit from a fee arrangement that caps the maximum fee at $900.00 or the lesser of the combined hourly rate for analysis and negotiation of the employment contract and related service for the Ownership Documents.
To learn more about our Physician Employment Contract Review service, contact Adam Appleberry at 412.594.5532 or aappleberry@tuckerlaw.com.