Legal

FULCRUM EMPLOYMENT ADVISORY — CLIENT ENGAGEMENT AGREEMENT

Last Updated: August 9, 2026

Nature of Services — Non-Attorney Advisory

Fulcrum Employment Advisory ("Fulcrum") provides advisory, coaching, and negotiation strategy services. Fulcrum is not a law firm, does not practice law, and does not provide legal advice, legal representation, legal drafting, or formal legal opinions on contract enforceability. No attorney-client relationship or attorney-client privilege is created by this engagement. For legal advice regarding your specific statutory rights or obligations, you should consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.

Client-Only Coaching & No Employer Contact

Fulcrum operates exclusively as an advisor and sounding board to you. Fulcrum advisors will not represent you in third-party communications, will not act as your legal agent, and will not contact, write to, or negotiate directly with your employer, former employer, HR representative, or legal counsel on your behalf. All materials provided by Fulcrum are for your personal execution.

Confidentiality & Intellectual Property

Fulcrum will treat all materials you submit as confidential and will use them solely to perform the requested services. You agree to keep Fulcrum's deliverables, frameworks, methodologies, and suggested wording strictly confidential and for your own personal negotiation use.

Document Authenticity, Verification & Material Misrepresentation

You represent and warrant that all documents you upload are authentic, complete, and unaltered, and that you have the legal right to share these materials with a professional advisor. You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Fulcrum, its officers, advisors, and employees from any third-party claims, liabilities, or disputes arising from your submission of these materials or your breach of any third-party non-disclosure agreement.

You acknowledge that Fulcrum's advisory work and all fee calculations depend entirely on the authenticity of the documents and figures you provide. Submitting documents or figures that are edited, fabricated, forged, machine-altered, or otherwise materially misrepresented — including altering compensation figures, dates, signatures, or party names, whether by hand, software, or artificial intelligence — constitutes a material breach of this Agreement.

You consent to automated screening of uploaded documents. Screening examines a file's own technical characteristics, including whether a digital signature is present, whether that signature still covers the entire file, whether the signed content has been modified after signing, and what authoring or editing software the file's metadata names. Screening does not validate signer identity, certificate trust, or certificate revocation status, and no screening result alone establishes a breach. Where screening or human review raises a question, Fulcrum may place your case on a Verification Hold and request that you re-upload the original, unmodified file as issued by the executing e-signature service or the original employer correspondence. While a Verification Hold is open, the Proof Window described in Section 7 is paused and the paused time is added back to your reporting deadline when the hold is cleared. Unreasonable or repeated failure to provide an original document upon request may be treated as a failure to report under Section 7.

Upon a material misrepresentation breach, Fulcrum may immediately terminate the engagement and, in addition to all other remedies available at law, (a) accelerate and charge the full target success fee calculated on the target Gross Base Cash Severance increase drafted in your playbook, and (b) assess the Fraud & Audit Administrative Fee stated on your Order Summary, both charged to your payment method on file. Fulcrum will provide you written notice describing the factual basis for the determination, and you retain the contest window described in Section 5. Amounts assessed under this Section are liquidated administrative charges reflecting Fulcrum's investigation, review, and lost-engagement costs, and are not a penalty.

Fees & Cancellation Policy

All flat fees, hourly rates, success-fee percentages, default success-fee rates, minimum administrative fees, and optional add-ons are set forth on your Order Summary during checkout and due as specified. The figures on your Order Summary are incorporated into this Agreement by reference and control over any general description in this document. Flat fees and add-ons are payable in full prior to the commencement of work. Because advisor review begins immediately upon case creation, flat fees are non-refundable once document analysis or advisor intake review has initiated. Billed hourly advisory work proceeds in the increments specified at checkout. Where a success-fee service tier is selected, you authorize Fulcrum to charge your saved payment method on file for the agreed-upon success-fee percentage of the Gross Base Cash Severance delta 48 hours after the invoice is issued, unless you formally contest the calculation in the portal within that T+48h window.

Delta Scope (Success Fees)

The success fee applies strictly to the verifiable increase in Gross Base Cash Severance (lump-sum cash or salary continuation payouts above your uploaded baseline offer). Equity or option valuations, option acceleration, health/COBRA premium subsidies, accrued PTO, bonuses, outplacement support, and all other non-cash benefits are explicitly excluded from the calculation unless a separate written addendum is signed by both parties.

Reporting Obligation & Default Success Fee

Where your engagement includes a success fee, you have an affirmative obligation to report your outcome. Within the proof window stated on your Order Summary (the "Proof Window," measured from the date your negotiation playbook is delivered to your portal), you must upload to the portal either (a) your final signed settlement or severance agreement, or (b) official written correspondence from your employer rejecting or withdrawing the negotiation. Reporting a rejected or unimproved outcome fully satisfies this obligation and results in no success fee.

If no such proof is on file when the Proof Window closes, you agree that the outcome will be presumed successful at the target level drafted in your playbook, and you authorize Fulcrum to assess and charge to your payment method on file a Default Success Fee equal to the default success-fee percentage stated on your Order Summary applied to the target Gross Base Cash Severance increase drafted in your playbook, or the minimum administrative fee stated on your Order Summary, whichever is greater. Fulcrum will send reminder notices to your portal and email address before the Proof Window closes. A Default Success Fee is invoiced with the same T+48h contest window described in Section 5, and will be voided and recalculated against your actual result if you submit conforming proof before the charge date. Time during which your case is on a Verification Hold under Section 4 does not count against the Proof Window. Fulcrum may, at its sole discretion, extend the Proof Window or waive this obligation in writing.

No Guarantee of Outcome

Fulcrum provides strategic guidance based on practical negotiation experience, but does not guarantee any specific financial or professional result. Final negotiation outcomes depend on independent third parties and factors entirely outside Fulcrum's control.

Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Fulcrum's total aggregate liability arising out of or related to this engagement is strictly limited to the total fees actually paid by you to Fulcrum for the specific service in question.

Document Retention & Privacy

Raw documents uploaded to the portal are permanently purged 30 days after your case is marked Closed. Published deliverables, strategy memos, invoices, and messaging logs remain accessible in your portal indefinitely. Verification records for success-fee calculations retain only final numeric values and document hashes, not full raw text.

Electronic Signatures (Clickwrap Assent)

By clicking "I Agree," submitting an intake form, or making a payment, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by these terms. You agree that your electronic acceptance constitutes a legal electronic signature pursuant to the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN Act) and applicable state statutes.

Governing Law, Severability & Entire Agreement

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Idaho, without regard to conflict of law principles. If any provision of this Agreement is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect. This document, together with the checkout Order Summary and generated invoices for your specific transaction, represents the entire agreement between you and Fulcrum and supersedes all prior verbal or written discussions.