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  Exhibit 10.15    
    

[EPOCRATES
LOGO] 

August 24,
2000 

Mr. Paul
F. Banta 

Dear
Paul, 

        On
behalf of ePocrates, Inc. (the "Company"), I am pleased to offer you the position of Vice President and General Counsel. 

        The
terms of your new position with the Company are as set forth below: 

        1.    Position.    

        a.     You
will become Vice President and General Counsel for the Company. You will report directly to the President and Chief Executive Officer. 

        b.     You
agree to the best of your ability and experience that you will at all times conscientiously perform all of the duties and obligations required of you to the
reasonable satisfaction of the Company. During the term of your employment, you further agree that you will devote all of your business time and attention to the business of the Company, the Company
will be entitled to all of the benefits and profits arising from or incident to all such work services and advice, you will not render commercial or professional services of any nature to any person
or organization, whether or not for compensation, without the prior written consent of the Company's Board of Directors, and you will not directly or indirectly engage or participate in any business
that is competitive in any manner with the business of the Company. Nothing in this letter agreement will prevent you from accepting speaking or presentation engagements in exchange for honoraria or
from serving on boards of charitable organizations, or from owning no more than one percent (1%) of the outstanding equity securities of a corporation whose stock is listed on a national stock
exchange. 

        2.    Start Date.    Subject to fulfillment of any conditions imposed by this letter
agreement, you will commence this new position with the Company on September 18, 2000. 

        3.    Proof of Right to Work.    For purposes of federal immigration law, you will be required
to provide to the Company documentary evidence of your identity and eligibility for employment in the United States. 

        4.    Compensation    

        a.    Base Salary.    You will be paid an annual salary of $210,000. Your salary will be
payable in semi monthly installments of $8750 pursuant to the Company's regular payroll policy. 

        b.    Annual Review.    Your base salary will be reviewed at the end of each calendar year as
part of the Company's normal salary review process. 

        5.    Stock Option.    In connection with the commencement of your employment, the Company
will recommend that the Board of Directors grant you an option to purchase 70,000 shares of the Company's Common Stock ("Shares") with an exercise price
equal to the fair market value on the date of the grant. These option shares will vest according to the following schedule: 1/4th of the total shares shall vest on the annual anniversary of the
vesting commencement date (September 18, 2001) and 1/48th of the shares shall vest monthly thereafter over the next three years. Vesting will, of course, depend on your continued
employment with the Company. The option will be an incentive stock option to the maximum extent allowed by the tax code and will be subject to the terms of the Company's Stock Plan and the Stock
Option Agreement between you and the Company. 

1

 

        Notwithstanding
the foregoing vesting schedule, should the Company consummate a change of control transaction, whereby fifty percent (50%) or more of the voting stock of the Company
changes ownership pursuant to such transaction and should your position with the Company be (i) terminated by the Company or successor entity or (ii) materially altered in a way that
constructively terminates your position (including a change of location increasing your commute more than 35 miles, or other change that substantially diminishes your position or compensation) within
twelve (12) months of such transaction, an additional one year's worth of shares (1/4th of the total shares subject to the option grant) will immediately become fully vested and
exercisable; however, if less than an additional one year's worth of shares (1/4th of the total shares subject to the option grant) shall be unvested, then all of the unvested shares shall
become fully vested. 

        6.    Bonus.    If you accept this offer of employment and join the Company, you will also
receive a one time Hire-On Bonus of $75,000, subject to the deduction of applicable taxes. The bonus will be paid in three payments; $25,000 on the first payroll cycle following your start
date, $25,000 on the payroll cycle 6 months following your start date, and the remaining $25,000 will be paid on the payroll cycle following your one year anniversary. If you voluntarily
terminate your employment with the Company within 12 months of your start date, you agree to repay to the Company the full amount of the bonus, less one-twelfth
(1/12) of the amount of the bonus for each month or portion thereof that you were employed by the company. 

        7.    Benefits.    The Company will provide you with standard medical and dental insurance
benefits. Employees are eligible for two weeks of vacation in their first full calendar year of employ and three weeks in each calendar year thereafter. Further details about benefits are available
for your review. ePocrates may modify compensation and benefits from time to time as it deems necessary. 

        8.    Confidential Information and Invention Assignment Agreement.    Your acceptance of this
offer and commencement of employment with the Company is contingent upon the execution, and delivery to an officer of the Company, of the Company's Confidential Information and Invention Assignment
Agreement (the "Confidentiality Agreement"), a copy of which is enclosed for your review and execution, prior to or on your Start Date. 

        9.    Confidentiality of Terms.    You agree to follow the Company's strict policy that
employees must not disclose, either directly or indirectly, any information, including any of the terms of this agreement, regarding salary, bonuses, or stock purchase or option allocations to any
person, including other employees of the Company; provided, however, that you may discuss such terms with members of your immediate family and any legal, tax or accounting specialists who provide you
with individual legal, tax or accounting advice. 

        10.    At-Will Employment.    Your employment with the Company will be on an "at
will" basis, meaning that either you or the Company may terminate your employment at any time for any reason or no reason, without further obligation or liability. 

        We
are all delighted to be able to extend you this offer and look forward to working with you. To indicate your acceptance of the Company's offer, please sign and date this letter in the
space provided below and return it to me, along with a signed and dated copy of the Confidentiality Agreement. This letter, together with the Confidentiality Agreement, set forth the terms of your
employment with the Company and supersede any prior representations or agreements, whether written or oral. This letter may not be modified or amended except by a written agreement, signed by the
Company and by you. 

2

 

This
offer is valid until September 1, 2000. 

 

 

					
	  Very truly yours,

ePocrates, Inc.
	 	 
	  /s/ JOHN S. OWENS

  John S. Owens

Recruiting Manager	 	 
	  ACCEPTED AND AGREED:

Paul F. Banta
	 	 
	  /s/ PAUL F. BANTA

  Signature	 	 
	  August 27, 2000

  Date	 	 
	  September 18, 2000

  Start date	 	 

 

 Enclosure:
Confidential Information and Invention Assignment Agreement 

3

 

 [Epocrates Letterhead]

March 11,
2008 

Paul
F. Banta
 [Address]

	Re:
	 Modification of Employment Terms

Dear
Paul: 

        As
we have discussed, this letter agreement confirms an amendment (the "Amendment") to the terms of your employment offer letter with
Epocrates, Inc. (the "Company") dated August 24, 2000 (the "Offer Letter"). The Amendment
will become effective only as of the effective date of the initial public offering of the Company's common stock (the "IPO"), and if the IPO does not
occur, this Amendment will not become effective. For the purposes of the Offer Letter and this Amendment, we agree that the IPO will not qualify as a Change of Control (defined in Section 12). 

The
Amendment is as follows:

         1.     Section 5 of the Offer Letter will be superseded in its entirety and replaced with the following: 

        5.    Stock Option.    In connection with the commencement of your
employment, the Company will recommend that the Board of Directors grant you an option to purchase sixty thousand (60,000) shares of the Company's Common Stock
("Shares") with an exercise price equal to the fair market value on the date of the grant (the
"Option"). These option shares will vest according to the following schedule: 1/4th of the total shares shall vest on the annual
anniversary of the vesting commencement date (September 18, 2001) and 1/48th of the shares shall vest monthly thereafter over the next three years. Vesting will, of course,
depend on your continued employment with the Company. The option will be an incentive stock option to the maximum extent allowed by the tax code and will be subject to the terms of the Company's Stock
Plan and the Stock Option Agreement between you and the Company. 

         2.     The following will become Section 11 of the Offer Letter. 

        11.    Severance Benefits Not In Connection With A Change of
Control.    If, at any time other than during the twelve (12) months following the consummation of a Change of Control (as defined in Section 12
herein), the Company or any successor entity terminates your employment without Cause (as defined herein), and if you first sign, date, and deliver to the Company a separation agreement that includes
a general release of all known and unknown claims in the form provided to you by the Company and allow this separation agreement and release to become effective, then you will receive the following as
your sole severance benefits (the "Severance Benefits"): (i) severance pay equal to six (6) months of your base salary in effect as of the
termination date, less required deductions and withholdings, paid in the form of salary continuation on the Company's standard payroll dates (beginning with the first payroll date following the
effective date of the required separation agreement); and (ii) provided that you timely elect continued group health insurance coverage through federal COBRA law or comparable state law
(collectively, "COBRA"), the Company will pay your COBRA premiums sufficient to continue your group health insurance coverage at the same level in
effect as of your termination date for six (6) months after your termination or until you become eligible for group health insurance coverage through a new employer, whichever occurs first. For
purposes of this letter agreement, "Cause" means any of the following conduct by you: (i) embezzlement, misappropriation of corporate funds, or
other material acts of dishonesty; (ii) the conviction, plea of guilty, or nolo contendere to any felony (not involving the operation of a motor vehicle), or of any misdemeanor involving moral
turpitude; (iii) engagement in any activity that you know or should know could materially harm the business 

1

 

or
reputation of the Company, provided that this subsection (iii) shall not apply to any activity done in a good faith belief by you that the action taken or omission was in the best interest
of the Company; (iv) material violation of any statutory, contractual, or common law duty or obligation owed by you to the Company, including, without limitation, the duty of loyalty which
causes demonstrable injury to the
Company; (v) material breach of the Confidentiality Agreement; or (vi) repeated failure, in the reasonable judgment of the Board, to substantially perform your assigned duties or
responsibilities after written notice from the Board describing the failure(s) in reasonable detail and your failure to cure such failure(s) within thirty (30) days of receiving such written
notice, provided that written notice only must be provided if the failure(s) are capable of cure. 

         3.     The following will become Section 12 of the Offer Letter. 

        12.    Change of Control Severance Benefits.    In the event that:
(i) the Company consummates a change of control transaction, whereby fifty percent (50%) or more of the voting stock of the Company changes ownership pursuant to such transaction (a
"Change of Control"); and (ii) within twelve (12) months after the consummation of a Change of Control, your employment with the Company
is either (a) terminated by the Company or successor entity without Cause (as defined in Section 11 herein), or (b) terminated by you for Good Reason (as defined in and in
accordance with the paragraph below); and (iii) you sign, date, and deliver to the Company a separation agreement that includes a general release of all known and unknown claims in the form
provided to you by the Company and allow this separation agreement and release to become effective; then you will receive the following as your sole severance benefits (the
"Change of Control Severance Benefits"): (a) severance pay equal to nine (9) months of your base salary in effect as of the termination
date, less required deductions and withholdings, paid in the form of salary continuation on the Company's standard payroll dates (beginning with the first payroll date following the effective date of
the required separation agreement); (b) provided that you timely elect continued group health insurance coverage through COBRA, the Company will pay your COBRA premiums sufficient to continue
your group health insurance coverage at the same level in effect as of your termination date for nine (9) months after your termination or until you become eligible for group health insurance
coverage through a new employer, whichever occurs first; and (c) notwithstanding the vesting schedule set forth in Section 5, any unvested shares subject to any option grants held by you
as of the employment termination date (including, but not limited to, any unvested Shares subject to the Option) will become vested and exercisable, effective as of the employment termination date. 

        For
purposes of this Section 12, "Good Reason" shall mean one or more of the following conditions that resulted from the
consummation of the Change of Control without your written consent: (i) a relocation of your assigned office more than thirty-five (35) miles from its location immediately
prior to the Change of Control; (ii) a material decrease in your base salary (except for salary decreases generally applicable to the Company's other executive employees); or (iii) a
material reduction in the scope of your duties or responsibilities from your duties and responsibilities in effect immediately prior to the Change of Control. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you shall
not be deemed to have terminated your employment for "Good Reason" unless (i) such termination occurs within ninety (90) days following the initial existence of one or more of the
conditions that constitute Good Reason (as defined herein), and (ii) you provide written notice to the Company (or any successor entity) of the existence of the Good Reason condition within
thirty (30) days following the initial existence of the condition, and the Company (or its successor entity) shall have a period of thirty (30) days following such notice to cure the
condition. If the condition is cured within such time period, such condition shall not constitute a condition for which you may terminate your employment for Good Reason. 

2

 

         4.     The following will become Section 13 of the Offer Letter. 

        13.    Parachute Payments.    In the event that the benefits provided
for in this letter agreement or otherwise payable to you ("Payment") would constitute "parachute payments" within the meaning of Section 280G of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code") and, but for this sentence, would be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999
of the Code (the "Excise Tax"), then such Payment shall be equal to the Reduced Amount. The "Reduced
Amount" shall be either (i) the largest portion of the Payment that would result in no portion of the Payment being subject to the Excise Tax, or (ii) the largest
portion, up to and including the total, of the Payment, whichever of the foregoing amounts, after taking into account all applicable federal, state and local employment taxes, income taxes and the
Excise Tax (all computed at the highest applicable marginal rate), results in the receipt by you, on an after-tax basis, of the greater amount of the Payment, notwithstanding that all or
some portion of the Payment may be subject to the Excise Tax. Unless the Company and you otherwise agree in writing, the determination of your Excise Tax liability shall be made in writing by the
accounting firm engaged by the Company for general audit purposes as of the day prior to the effective date of the Change of Control (the
"Accountants"). If the accounting firm so engaged by the Company is serving as accountant or auditor for the individual, entity or group effecting the
Change of Control, the Company shall appoint a nationally recognized accounting firm to make the determinations required hereunder. For purposes of making the calculations required by this
Section 13, the Accountants may make reasonable assumptions and approximations concerning applicable taxes and may rely on reasonable, good faith interpretations concerning the application of
Sections 280G and 4999 of the Code. Any good faith determinations of the Accountants made hereunder shall be final, binding, and conclusive upon the Company and you. The Company and you shall
furnish to the Accountants such information and documents as the Accountants may reasonably request in order to make a determination under this Section. The Company shall bear all costs the
Accountants may reasonably incur in connection with any calculations contemplated by this Section 13. To the extent that any elimination in or reduction of payments or benefits is made under
this Section 13, the determination as to the order in which payments and benefits shall be reduced shall be made by you (subject, however, to the Company's approval if made on or after the date
on which the event that triggers the payments or benefits occurs). 

         5.     The following will become Section 14 of the Offer Letter. 

        14.    Deferred Compensation.    Severance payments made pursuant to
Section 11 or Section 12, to the extent of payments made from the date of your termination through March 15 of the calendar year following your termination, are intended to
constitute separate payments for purposes of Section 1.409A-2(b)(2) of the Treasury Regulations and thus payable pursuant to the "short-term deferral" rule set forth in
Section 1.409A-1(b)(4) of the Treasury Regulations. To the extent such payments are made following said March 15, they are intended to constitute separate payments for
purposes of Section 1.409A-2(b)(2) of the Treasury
Regulations made upon an involuntary termination from service and payable pursuant to Section 1.409A-1(b)(9)(iii) of the Treasury Regulations, to the maximum extent permitted by
such provision, with any excess amount being regarded as subject to the distribution requirements of Section 409A(a)(2)(A) of the Code, including, without limitation, the requirement of
Section 409A(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Code that payment be delayed until six (6) months after separation from service if you are a "specified employee" within the meaning of
Section 409A(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Code at the time of such separation from service. 

Except
as modified herein, all other terms of the Offer Letter shall remain in full force and effect. 

This
Amendment, together with the Offer Letter, constitutes the entire agreement between you and the Company regarding the terms of your employment, effective as of the first business day of the IPO.
It 

3

 

supersedes
any prior statements, representations or promises made to you concerning the subjects contained in this letter agreement and the Offer Letter, and only can be modified in a writing signed
by you and a duly authorized director or officer of Epocrates. 

Please
sign below if these terms are acceptable to you. 

 Understood and Agreed:  

 

 

			
	/s/ John Owens

  John Owens

Vice President

Human Resources

Epocrates, Inc.	 	/s/ Paul F. Banta

  Paul F. Banta

Senior Vice President

Law, Policy, and Content

Epocrates, Inc.
	
4/15/08

  Date	
 	
3/18/08

  Date

 

 4

 

 
 

  [ePOCRATES Letterhead]    
    

December 23,
2008 

Paul
Banta 

Re:    Amendment to March 11, 2008 Letter Agreement  

Dear Paul: 

        This
letter agreement confirms an amendment (the "Amendment") to the terms of your letter agreement dated March 11, 2008 with
Epocrates, Inc. (the "Company") providing for modified employment terms (including a severance arrangement) in the event of the initial public
offering of the Company's common stock (the "IPO Agreement"). This Amendment is effective as of December 23, 2008. 

        The
IPO Agreement is hereby amended by adding the following two new sentences to the end of the paragraph entitled "Deferred Compensation": 

        Notwithstanding
anything to the contrary set forth herein, any payments and benefits provided under this Agreement that constitute "deferred compensation" within the meaning of
Section 409A of the Code and the regulations and other guidance thereunder and any state law of similar effect (collectively
"Section 409A") shall not commence in connection with your termination of employment unless and until you also have incurred a "separation from
service" (as such term is defined in Treasury Regulations Section 1.409A-1(h)), unless the Company reasonably determines that such amounts may be provided to you without causing you
to incur the adverse personal tax consequences under Section 409A. In addition, the fully executed and effective general release of all known and unknown claims discussed in Section 11
of this Agreement must be provided by you to the Company within the applicable time period set forth in the Release but in no event later than sixty (60) days following your termination of
employment. 

        Except
as modified herein, all other terms of the IPO Agreement shall remain in full force and effect. This Amendment only can be modified in a writing signed by you and a duly
authorized director or officer of Epocrates. 

        Please
sign below to indicate your agreement to the Amendment. 

 

 

			
	Understood and Agreed:	 	 
	
 /s/ John Owens

  John Owens

Vice President, Human Resources

Epocrates, Inc.	
 	
/s/ Paul Banta

  Paul Banta

Senior Vice President

Law, Policy and Content

Epocrates, Inc.
	
 12/23/08

  Date	
 	
12/29/08

  Date

 

 1

 
 

  [ePOCRATES Letterhead]    
    

May 12,
2009 

VIA
HAND DELIVERY 

Paul
Banta 

Re:    Amended and Restated Severance Benefits Agreement  

Dear Paul: 

        As
we have discussed, this severance benefits agreement confirms an amendment (the "Amendment") to the terms of your employment offer
letter with Epocrates, Inc. (the "Company") dated August 24, 2000 (the "Offer Letter").
This Amendment supersedes and replaces in full the March 11, 2008 letter agreement between you and the Company, as amended pursuant to the amendment agreement between you and the Company dated
December 23, 2008 (collectively, the "Amended IPO Agreement"). This Amendment is effective as of May 12, 2009, provided that you sign and
return this Amendment within five (5) business days after your receipt of this Amendment. 

        The
Amendment is as follows: 

        1.     Section 5 of the Offer Letter is superseded and replaced in its entirety with the following: 

        5.    Stock Option.    In connection with the commencement of your
employment, the Company will recommend that the Board of Directors grant you an option to purchase seventy thousand (70,000) shares of the Company's Common Stock
("Shares") with an exercise price equal to the fair market value on the date of the grant (the
"Option"). These option shares will vest according to the following schedule: 1/4th of the total shares shall vest on the annual anniversary of
the vesting commencement date (September 18, 2001) and 1/48th of the shares shall vest monthly thereafter over the next three years. Vesting will, of course, depend on your continued
employment with the Company. The option will be an incentive stock option to the maximum extent allowed by the tax code and will be subject to the terms of the Company's Stock Plan and the Stock
Option Agreement between you and the Company. 

        2.     Section 10 of the Offer Letter is superseded and replaced in its entirety with the following: 

        10.    Severance Benefits Not In Connection With A Change of
Control.    If, at any time other than during the twelve (12) months following the consummation of a Change of Control (as defined in
Section 11 herein), the Company or any successor entity terminates your employment without Cause (as defined herein), and if you first sign, date, and deliver to the Company a separation
agreement that includes a general release of all known and unknown claims in the form provided to you by the Company (the "Release") and allow the
Release to become effective, then you will receive the following as your sole severance benefits (the "Severance Benefits"): (i) severance pay
equal to six (6) months of your base salary in effect as of the termination date, less required deductions and withholdings, paid in the form of salary continuation on the Company's standard
payroll dates (beginning with the first payroll date following the effective date of the Release); and (ii) provided that you timely elect continued group health insurance coverage through
federal COBRA law or comparable state law (collectively, "COBRA"), the Company will pay your COBRA premiums sufficient to continue your group health
insurance coverage at the same level in effect as of your termination date for six (6) months after your termination or until you become eligible for group health insurance coverage through a
new employer, whichever occurs first. For purposes of this letter agreement, "Cause" means any of the following conduct by you: (i) embezzlement,
misappropriation of corporate funds, or other material acts of dishonesty; (ii) the conviction, plea of guilty, or nolo contendere to any felony (not involving the operation of a motor
vehicle), or of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude; (iii) engagement in any activity that you know or should know could materially harm the business or reputation of the Company,
provided that this subsection (iii) shall not apply to any activity done in a good faith belief by you that the action taken or omission was in the best interest of the Company;
(iv) material violation 

 

of
any statutory, contractual, or common law duty or obligation owed by you to the Company, including, without limitation, the duty of loyalty which causes demonstrable injury to the Company;
(v) material breach of the Confidentiality Agreement; or (vi) repeated failure, in the reasonable judgment of the Company's Board of Directors (the
"Board"), to substantially perform your assigned duties or responsibilities after written notice from the Board describing the failure(s) in reasonable
detail and your failure to cure such failure(s) within thirty (30) days of receiving such written notice, provided that written notice only must be provided if the failure(s) are capable of
Cure. 

        3.     The following becomes Section 11 of the Offer Letter. 

        11.    Change of Control Severance Benefits.    In the event that:
(i) the Company consummates a change of control transaction, whereby fifty percent (50%) or more of the voting stock of the Company changes ownership pursuant to such transaction (a
"Change of Control"); and (ii) within twelve (12) months after the consummation of a Change of Control, your employment with the Company
is either (a) terminated by the Company or successor entity without Cause (as defined in Section 9 herein), or (b) terminated by you for Good Reason (as defined in and in
accordance with the paragraph below); and (iii) you sign, date, and deliver to the Company the Release and allow it to become effective; then you will receive the following as your sole
severance benefits (the "Change of Control Severance Benefits"): (a) severance pay equal to nine (9) months of your base salary in effect
as of the termination date, less required deductions and withholdings, paid in the form of salary continuation on the Company's standard payroll dates (beginning with the first payroll date following
the effective date of the Release); (b) provided that you timely elect continued group health insurance coverage through COBRA, the Company will pay your COBRA premiums sufficient to continue
your group health insurance coverage at the same level in effect as of your termination date for nine (9) months after your termination or until you become eligible for group health insurance
coverage through a new employer, whichever occurs first; and (c) any unvested shares subject to any option grants held by you as of the employment termination date will become vested and
exercisable, effective as of the employment termination date. 

        For
purposes of this Section 11, "Good Reason" shall mean one or more of the following conditions that arose upon or following the
consummation of the Change of Control without your written consent: (i) a relocation of your assigned office more than thirty-five (35) miles from its location immediately
prior to the Change of Control; (ii) a material decrease in your base salary (except for salary decreases generally applicable to the Company's other executive employees); or (iii) a
material reduction in the scope of your duties or responsibilities from your duties and responsibilities in effect immediately prior to the Change of Control. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you shall
not be deemed to have terminated your employment for "Good Reason" unless (i) such termination occurs within ninety (90) days following the initial existence of one or more of the
conditions that constitute Good Reason (as defined herein), (ii) you provide written notice to the Company (or any successor entity) of the existence of the Good Reason condition within thirty
(30) days following the initial existence of the condition, and (iii) the Company (or its successor entity) fails to cure such condition within a period of thirty (30) days
following such written notice. 

        4.     The following becomes Section 12 of the Offer Letter. 

        12.    Parachute Payments.    In the event that the benefits provided
for in this letter agreement or otherwise payable to you ("Payment") would constitute "parachute payments" within the meaning of Section 280G of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code") and, but for this sentence, would be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999
of the Code (the "Excise Tax"), then such Payment shall be equal to the Reduced Amount. The "Reduced
Amount" shall be either (i) the largest portion of the Payment that would result in no portion of the 

2

 

Payment
being subject to the Excise Tax, or (ii) the largest portion, up to and including the total, of the Payment, whichever of the foregoing amounts, after taking into account all applicable
federal, state and local employment taxes, income taxes and the Excise Tax (all computed at the highest applicable marginal rate), results in the receipt by you, on an after-tax basis, of
the greater amount of the Payment, notwithstanding that all or some portion of the Payment may be subject to the Excise Tax. Unless the Company and you otherwise agree in writing, the determination of
your Excise Tax liability shall be made in writing by the accounting firm engaged by the Company for general audit purposes as of the day prior to the effective date of the Change of Control (the
"Accountants"). If the accounting firm so engaged by the Company is serving as accountant or auditor for the individual, entity or group effecting the
Change of Control, the Company shall appoint a nationally recognized accounting firm to make the determinations required hereunder. For purposes of making the calculations required by this
Section 12, the Accountants may make reasonable assumptions and approximations concerning applicable taxes and may rely on reasonable, good faith interpretations concerning the application of
Sections 280G and 4999 of the Code. Any good faith determinations of the Accountants made hereunder shall be final, binding, and conclusive upon the Company and you. The Company and you shall
furnish to the Accountants such information and documents as the Accountants may reasonably request in order to make a determination under this Section. The Company shall bear all costs the
Accountants may reasonably incur in connection with any calculations contemplated by this Section 12. To the extent that any elimination in or reduction of payments or benefits is made under
this Section 12, the order in which payments and benefits shall be reduced shall be made by the Accountants in a manner that shall provide you with the greatest economic benefit, but if more
than one manner of reduction of payments and benefits necessary to arrive at the Reduced Amount yields the greatest economic benefit to you, then the payments and benefits shall be reduced pro rata. 

        5.     The following becomes Section 13 of the Offer Letter. 

        13.    Deferred Compensation.    Severance payments made pursuant to
Section 10 or Section 11, to the extent of payments made from the date of your termination through March 15 of the calendar year following your termination, are intended to
constitute separate payments for purposes of Section 1.409A-2(b)(2) of the Treasury Regulations and thus payable pursuant to the "short-term deferral" rule set forth in
Section 1.409A-1(b)(4) of the Treasury Regulations. To the extent such payments are made following said March 15, they are intended to constitute separate payments for
purposes of Section 1.409A-2(b)(2) of the Treasury Regulations made upon an involuntary termination from service and payable pursuant to
Section 1.409A-1(b)(9)(iii) of the Treasury Regulations, to the maximum extent permitted by such provision, with any excess amount being regarded as subject to the distribution
requirements of Section 409A(a)(2)(A) of the Code, including, without limitation, the requirement of Section 409A(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Code that payment be delayed until six
(6) months after separation from service if you are a "specified employee" within the meaning of Section 409A(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Code at the time of such separation from service.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth herein, if any payments and benefits provided under this offer letter agreement that constitute "deferred compensation" within the meaning of
Section 409A of the Code and the regulations and other guidance thereunder and any state law of similar effect (collectively
"Section 409A") (i) such payments and benefits shall not commence in connection with your termination of employment unless and until you
also have incurred a "separation from service" (as such term is defined in Treasury Regulations Section 1.409A-1(h)), unless the Company reasonably determines that such amounts may
be provided to you without causing you to incur the adverse personal tax consequences under Section 409A, and (ii) the Release required by Sections 10 and 11 above shall be
considered effective only as of the latest permitted effective date for such Release if such Release could become effective in the calendar year following the calendar year in which your employment
termination occurs. 

3

 

        Except
as modified herein, all other terms of the Offer Letter shall remain in full force and effect. 

        This
Amendment, together with the Offer Letter and the Confidentiality Agreement, constitutes the entire agreement between you and the Company regarding the terms of your employment, and
supersedes any prior statements, representations or promises made to you concerning the subjects contained in this Amendment and the Offer Letter (including but not limited to the Amended IPO
Agreement). This Amendment only can be modified in a writing signed by you and a duly authorized director or officer of Epocrates. 

        Please
sign below if these terms are acceptable to you, and return the fully signed Amendment to me within five (5) business days. 

 

 

			
	Understood and Agreed:	 	 
	
 /s/ John Owens

  John Owens

Senior Vice President

Human Resources

Epocrates, Inc.	
 	
/s/ Paul Banta

  Paul Banta

Executive Vice President

General Counsel and Secretary

Epocrates, Inc.
	
 5/12/09

  Date	
 	
5/13/09

  Date

 

 4

QuickLinks

Exhibit 10.15

[ePOCRATES Letterhead]

[ePOCRATES Letterhead]

Source: [{"source": "alea-institute/alea-institute/kl3m-data-edgar-agreements/train-00175-of-00352.parquet"}]