Built to be the counterweight.
Most firms sit on the other side of the table, advising the very employers our clients face. Mercer & Beekman was founded to be the opposite — a practice devoted entirely to the individual.
For the accomplished, at the one moment they are not in control.
Our clients are senior executives and high-earning professionals facing a career-defining moment: a forced exit, a lowball severance offer, a discrimination or retaliation claim, a restrictive covenant blocking the next role. They are accomplished and used to being in control — and this is one of the few arenas where they are not.
On the other side is an unfair offer, a wrongful termination, an intimidating non-compete, or a hostile employer with far more legal firepower. Beneath it runs something quieter: the fear of being outmatched, the anxiety over reputation and future earnings, the sting of being dismissed after years of loyalty.
We believe people who gave their best to a company deserve to leave on fair, dignified terms — not to be quietly pushed out. That belief is the whole of our practice. We show up with the empathy to understand what is at stake for your career and your name, and the authority of decades of executive-side wins to do something about it.
The principles behind every engagement.
The individual, always
We represent people, never employers. That singular allegiance removes conflict and keeps our judgment aligned with yours alone.
Discretion as discipline
Reputation is an asset we protect as carefully as compensation. The vast majority of our work resolves quietly, by design.
Leverage before noise
We build the strongest possible position first, so the best outcomes are reached without a courtroom — and are ready for one when needed.
Partner-led, without exception
Your matter is handled by a partner from the first call to the last. No hand-offs, no dilution, no surprises.
Three decades in the same corner.
Eleanor Mercer founds the firm on a single conviction: the individual deserves counsel as formidable as any corporation's.
Julian Beekman joins as managing partner, building the litigation practice that anchors the firm's most contested matters.
The firm opens its London office, extending representation to executives across jurisdictions.
A San Francisco office follows, serving founders and technology leaders on the West Coast.
A boutique of senior counsel, recognized among the profession's most exacting authorities — and known, above all, for discretion.
Recognized by the profession's most exacting authorities
A conversation, in complete confidence.
Tell us, in a sentence or two, what you are facing. A partner will respond personally, typically within one business day. Everything you share is privileged.