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Kristen Prinz to be on Ameriprise Financial Panel - January 18th!

Shattering through the Glass Ceiling: Women’s Successes in a Man’s World
 
“Dream Book® Give voice to your dreams.”
 
Presented By:
Peter J. Brandstaetter CRPC®< /span>, Financial Advisor, Franchise Owner  
Peter J. Brandstaetter & Associates
A financial advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc.  

Jessica L. Merino, Financial Advisor, will moderate a panel discussion among four successful women professionals following the Ameriprise Financial presentation. The panelists will share their stories of how they were able to turn obstacles into opportunities to reach success in a male dominated field, and will answer questions from guests.  Panelists include:
Nancy Balentine, Vice President of Asset Management, from Capri Capital Partners
Trish Moll, Field Vice President, from Ameriprise Financial
Jo Osborn-Jackson, Corporate Attorney , from Treehouse Foods, Inc.
Kristen Prinz, Principal, from The Prinz Law Firm
 
Where:
The Signature Room at the 95th
The Hancock Tower
875 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611

When:
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
5:30 – 8:30 P.M.
 
Presentation to begin at 6 P.M.
Wine and appetizers will be served.
 
Please RSVP to Marlen Komar at (312) 589-5550 by January 11th.
*All are welcome to bring guests to this event*
 
This is an informational event. There is no cost or obligation to attend this event. 


Kristen Prinz to speak on WGN Weekend with Bill Moller

Make sure to tune in  to Radio 720 on Saturday, December 3rd when Ms. Prinz will be discussing how and when to negotiate your salary with Host, Bill Moller.  It is sure to be a beneficial, interesting discussion on the do''s and don''ts of negotiation  in this tough economic climate.


Kristen Prinz quoted in recent CRAIN'S article

GROUPON files lawsuit against some former employees who leave for competitors                                                  By John Pletz             November 28, 2011                                                            

As its bankers on Wall Street were preparing last month to take the company public, Groupon Inc.'s lawyers were filing lawsuits in Cook County against former employees who it says joined rivals Google Inc. and Gannett Co., as well as another former worker who started her own deal site.

The litigation, the first for Groupon against employees who left for competitors, is opening a new front in the battle for daily-deal supremacy and is serving as a warning shot to employees and competitors alike that the Chicago company intends to play hardball to protect its turf.

It may be necessary. After all, it's not proprietary technology that gives Groupon its advantage, CEO Andrew Mason recently told investors. It's the 4,800 sales reps worldwide, searching for everything from restaurants to nail salons willing to do deals, who make the cash register ring. Almost since Groupon started three years ago, the company has been under assault by copycats, and the lawsuits underscore the vulnerability of its business model, which is easily replicated.

“Filing these suits is an executive-level decision: a concerted, orchestrated strategy of protection, similar to what people do with (intellectual property),” says Kevin O'Hagan, a partner at Chicago-based law firm O'Hagan Spencer LLC, which represents executives and companies in employment cases. “Groupon doesn't have a lot of technology to protect.”

Groupon declines to comment on the litigation.

Other companies, such as Schaumburg-based Motorola Inc. and Chicago insurance brokerage Aon Corp., have sued former employees to enforce non-compete agreements. But the suits often involved executives overseeing product lines or large chunks of business rather than lower-level sales representatives.

“If you're 25, you don't have the resources to fight. You get hit with a lawsuit, you're going to be scared,” says Kristen Prinz, a Chicago employment lawyer who advises employees on negotiating employment agreements.


Natalie Lange to speak at CLS National Conference
Natalie Lange will be leading a workshop session during the Christian Legal Society’s 50th Anniversary National Conference this year in Oak Brook, Illinois on October 20-23, 2011. The workshop is entitled, “Recent Developments in Labor & Employment.” Ms. Lange will provide a survey of recent employment law developments and the resulting impact for employees, executives and small business owners. Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit is available, and attorneys can register online at www.clsnet.org.

Kristen Prinz quoted in the Business Courier

Kendle International CEO up for $2M parachute
Premium content from Business Courier
by James Ritchie, Staff Reporter
Date: Friday, July 15, 2011

Stephen Cutler's run as CEO of Kendle International Inc. Kendle International Inc. was short but lucrative.

The $232 million sale of Kendle to Raleigh, N.C.-based INC Research LLC closed on July 12. Cutler, who took over the top spot at Kendle on May 1, will not have a role in the merged organization.

Cutler, however, is in for a soft landing: The acquisition agreement included a $2.1 million "golden parachute² provision for him if he lost his job. INC will continue to be led by James Ogle and will phase out the Kendle name, the firm said.

Cutler had been CEO of Kendle International Inc. for less than a week when privately held INC Research announced it would buy the company.

It's not clear why Kendle made a CEO change so soon before the sale, with company founder Candace Kendle leaving the top executive role but remaining as chairwoman of the company, which designs and runs clinical trials for pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms.

"The board had to believe this would facilitate the sale or make the company seem more valuable,² said Kristen Prinz, principal at the Chicago-based Prinz Law Firm, which advises executives on employment matters.

Cutler's package, as outlined in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, includes about $1 million in cash. That represents twice his annual base salary, his average bonus for the two fiscal years before the acquisition, accrued and unused paid time off and a pro-rata portion of the bonus amount for the year in which the merger occurs.

It also includes $612,000 in equity along with $574,000 in tax reimbursement and the value of two years of health, medical, dental and life insurance, along with the cost of outplacement services.

Kendle officials offered no comment on the pay plans. Such packages are typical in mergers and acquisitions, Prinz said. The job market for top executives like Cutler, who joined Kendle in 2009 as chief operating officer, is tiny, and such candidates won't take a position that might end soon unless there's significant upside. With the addition of Kendle, INC employs 5,000 people across six continents. John Potthoff, president of INC, said the company is now solidly among the top-10 largest companies in the clinical-research industry, and possibly the top five.

"We were very complementary both in geography and therapeutic focus, and now as a combined organization we have a more complete service offering and the scale and reach to more effectively compete,² he said.

Duplicated jobs will be cut, Potthoff said, including some in Cincinnati, where Kendle employs about 580 people. He did not have an estimate of how many, but said that most reductions would involve support and managerial employees and that INC will maintain a strong presence in downtown's Carew Tower.

From Kendle's executive team, INC will keep Jamie Macdonald as COO and Mark Roseman as executive vice president for business development and marketing.

Macdonald has a Kendle golden parachute worth $1 million and Roseman has one for $900,000. Keith Cheesman, Kendle's chief financial officer, who will not join INC, is eligible for a $1.2 million package.

The parachutes go into effect if the executives are terminated within 24 months of the change in control for any reason except death, disability or cause. They're also triggered if they resign within 12 months for "good reason,² such as salary reduction, a significant increase in business travel or the broad proviso of circumstances that render them "unable to carry out performance² of their "authorities, powers, functions, responsibilities or duties.²

When shareholders approved the merger plan at a special meeting on July 7, they also gave the nod to the golden parachutes in an advisory vote.

The money and benefits carry significant restrictions. For 12 months, recipients can't work for a competitor. And for two years, they can't solicit their former company's clients, medical professionals or patients or try to hire its employees.

No golden parachutes were listed for Candace Kendle or her husband, Christopher Bergen, the company's co-founder and former chief administrative officer, in the SEC documents. They started the company in 1981 and took it public through an initial public offering in 1997.

Keeping the Œbrain trust'

Potthoff said the founders will not be involved with the combined company.

But Michael Hermens, a strategic change consultant who is president of Dallas-based Finance Forward LLC, said it wouldn't surprise him to see Kendle show up in a non-executive role, a course of action for which stepping down as CEO would have paved the way. She could, for example, sign on as a board member or contractor.

That could be good for INC, Hermens said, because some key managers might be loyal to the founder and will be more likely to stay if she's still around.

"The last thing you want to do is acquire a company and then have the brain trust walk out,² he said.

In an April interview, Kendle sounded like she was still getting used to the idea of semi-retirement. She told the Business Courier that she planned to spend more time on public service and golf, with specifics "to be further explored.²

Kendle, which had 2010 net service revenue of $334 million, has 3,000 employees. INC, owned by the private equity firm Avista Capital Partners and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, is a $250 million-a-year company with 2,000 employees.

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