June 16, 200X
Gordon V. Christopher, DVM
Veterinary Care Associates,
LLC
Heights Road
Anytown, USA
Dear Doctor Christopher:
In
accordance with your objective to employ an associate doctor, I prepared the
enclosed draft of an associate-doctor employment agreement.
The
information contained in the agreement has been obtained from the Outline of an Employment Offer to a
Prospective Associate Doctor. Accounting,
tax or legal advice, tax questions as well as provisions of contract law should
be reviewed carefully with legal and accounting professionals.
Although
the draft agreement addresses the details of your employment offer, it does not
specifically address the following:
1. Liquidated damages that could result from a
breach of the restrictive covenant or non solicitation
covenant. Since liquidated damages are a
matter of law, if you want to include a liquidated damage clause in your
associate-doctor employment agreement, discuss inclusion with your attorney.
2. The compensation paragraph states that any
profit-sharing contribution is in addition to the base salary of the
associate. Since the qualified pension
and/or profit-sharing agreement sets forth the vesting
provision, discuss this with the administrator of the plan.
3.
A restrictive covenant is enforceable if
it meets the five tests of reasonableness. Since enforcement is a matter of
law, seek the advice of your attorney.
4. The term of employment refers to the period
of associate ship.
If you promote your associate to partner,
you must determine the value of the tangible assets and patient records of Veterinary
Care Associates, and then, write a partnership/shareholder agreement and
agreement and an employment agreement for each doctor-partner.
Please review the draft associate-doctor employment
agreement and call me with any questions that you may have.
Gordon V. Christopher, DVM
June 16, 200X
Page 2
Sincerely,
David J. Shuffler
DJS/cl
Enclosure