Employment
What Do — And Should — In-House Lawyers Think About The Biglaw Pay Raises?
Article
“If firms try to pass too much of their increased overhead on to clients, the clients will balk — and in this day and age, with competition from great boutiques and alternative legal services providers, clients have significant leverage,” writes David Lat of Above the Law.
Drugs in the Workplace: Tread Lightly, Navigate Carefully
Article
FisherBroyles offers a warning for employers dealing with an employee who is doing — or is suspected of doing — illegal drugs: You could be facing large legal fees, company embarrassment, and major diversion of management time. But an employer can take some steps to avoid big problems.
More Firms Follow Cravath’s Lead to $180,000 Starting Associate Pay
News
Just one day after Cravath, Swaine & Moore announced an increase in associate salaries, bringing first-years’ pay up to $180,000, BigLaw firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley, & McCloy told its associates that it would match the new scale, according to Above the Law.
Rogue Trader Who Cost His Bank $7B Wins $500K for Wrongful Dismissal
News
Société Générale promises an appeal of the ruling that favored former rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel.
Cravath Raises Associate Base Salaries to $180,000
News
Above the Law is reporting that BigLaw firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore has hiked salaries for associates — ranging from $180,000 for first-year associates to $315,000 for eighth-years.
Alcohol-Related Workplace Injuries Recordable, OSHA Says
Article
Employers are not exempt from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s reporting rule for on-the-job injuries linked to alcohol intoxication even though the injured employee’s consumption of alcoholic beverages took place off the job, reports Bradford T. Hammock of Jackson Lewis.
Discrimination Lawsuit Against Mintz Levin Can Move Forward, Judges Rule
News
A discrimination lawsuit brought against high-powered Boston law firm Mintz Levin by one of its former attorneys can move forward after a decision by the state’s highest court, reports The Boston Globe.
Effective Conciliation and Demystifying Intervention in EEOC Cases
Event, June 9, 1 p.m. EDT
Practical Law will present a webinar that will address obligations on the part of employers, charging parties and the EEOC in conciliating and litigating EEOC cases.
The DOL’s Final FLSA Overtime Exemption Rule: What Employers Must Do Now
Event, June 1, 1 p.m. EDT
Practical Law and the Wage & Hour Defense Institute (WHDI) will present a free, 75-minute webinar providing guidance on the U.S. Department of Labor’s final rule, updating the regulations governing white collar exemptions under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Bank Regulators Revive Restrictions on Incentive-Based Compensation
Article
The new rules seek to establish general requirements applicable to the incentive-based compensation arrangements of covered persons working in covered institutions.
Dealing With New FLSA Rule Raising Minimum Salary Overtime Exemption
Article
Before the Department of Labor’s final rule goes into effect, employers should assess which employees will be affected, and how the employer will want to respond, advises Ropes & Gray LLP.
America’s Top CEOs Pocket 340 Times More Than Average Workers
News
The top 500 chief executive officers in American companies earned 340 times the average worker’s wage last year, taking home $12.4m on average, according to an analysis by the AFL-CIO, reports The Guardian.
$100M Uber Settlement Attacked By Drivers Saying Lawyer Sold Out
News
The lawyer who struck a $100 million deal with Uber Technologies Inc. is being accused of greed by some of the drivers covered by the accord who want her bumped, reports Bloomberg News.
9th Circuit Extends Non-Compete Term Beyond Contractual Period
Article
Employee disregards a non-compete and joins a competitor; former company calls foul and initiates a lawsuit; parties fight it out, but by the time litigation has run its course, the non-compete period in the underlying contract has expired. The dispute is moot, right?
Can ‘Love Contracts’ Govern Your Inter-Office Romance?
Article
When the legal document is signed in an office setting, the co-working couple promises that their consensual attraction will not lead to distractions or conflicts of interest in the workplace.
Choice-of-Law Provision in Employment and Non-Compete Agreement Disregarded
Article
A Dallas appellate court considered whether California law governed contract and tort claims against California-based former employees who signed employment agreements containing a choice-of-law clause stating that Texas substantive law would apply, according to a report by Neil R. Burger of Carrington Coleman Sloman.
70 Percent of 2015 Law Grads Working Full-Time in Legal Field
News
Results of a study released by the American Bar Association show that 70 percent of the 39,984 graduates of the 205 ABA-accredited law schools last year now have full-time, long-term employment in positions that require or prefer a JD.
Burned Out BigLaw Lawyer Says ‘Woman’s Card’ Only Held Her Back
News
Kristen Jarvis Johnson, 33, says she “encountered blatant gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and a very clear glass ceiling” as she climbed the ladder as a $400,000 a year senior associate at Squire Patton Boggs, in its Qatar office.
Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Seattle Minimum Wage Law
News
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a challenge by business groups to Seattle’s law raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour, a move echoed by other locales, in a case focusing on how the ordinance affected local franchises like McDonald’s, reports Reuters.
Employer’s Failure to Sign Agreement Torpedoes Its Motion to Compel Arbitration
Article
A fundamental principle of contract law is that a written contract is an agreement in writing that serves as proof of the parties’ obligations, writes Virginia Whitehill Guldi of Zuckerman Spaeder LLP. What happens, however, when the parties forget some of the niceties of formalizing a written contract?
