Key Talent & Company Value

We build productive relationships: between creative and financial partners and, similarly, between professionals and company owners. In creative-driven business, relationships quickly and directly affect the bottom line.

We have special expertise with founder-entrepreneurs and especially designers who have built businesses under their own name. In this domain our knowledge and experience are unmatched.

Representative engagements include:

* Partnership and trademark-namesake agreement by non-adversarial process. Engaged jointly by "opposing parties", the designer and investor. Delivered concise and strategically balanced agreement at substantial relative cost savings.

* Management Retention/Intervention. Negotiated stock option plan to retain and motivate a dispirited management team in a rigorous turnaround of $100+m value company. Upon successful exit, managers' options paid out at the highest negotiated rate.

* Designer Commitment and Mediation. Negotiated long-term incentive-based employment agreement for marquis creative director. Mediated ongoing conflicts in integrating designer's team into the multi-brand organization.

* Designer Retention/Intervention. Mediated a conflict which threatened the ouster of designer/namesake from a 20-year heritage brand. Successfully negotiated long-term agreement for designer services and incentives for future collaboration.

* Long-term services and trademark rights agreement for $800 million company. Negotiated lifetime employment and name/trademark rights agreement for designer/namesake of 30-year old high luxury brand to help owners preserve the success of the company including key licensee relationships.