Most people spend a third of their lives asleep. Likewise, as amazing as it may sound, another third will be spent on work. Unpleasant, but true: For most of us, we will spend a third of our adult life engaged in furthering our employer’s goals, which may or may not align with our personal goals. Especially if you’re a long-term employee, when your work situation becomes troublesome — for reasons of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, or pay issues — you may find yourself unusually upset, confused, and feel strangely “out of balance.” If you think of a job as a kind of marriage, it’s not really surprising that disruptions at work can cause upheavals in your sense of well-being.
If you are currently unhappy with your job, have recently left your job, or have been terminated, you are in any way unfamiliar. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, average length of employment decreased from 9.2 years in 1983 to 4.1 years in 2008. A 2010 Metlife survey found that nearly two out of three employees plan to leave their job by the end of a year, or will leave their job if Something better happened. A professor at the Wharton School of Economics suggests that this concern can in fact be explained by a 30-year trend where employers have overvalued profits over loyalty to their employees, and increasingly view employees as disposable. Employee lawsuits have also become common. In California alone, EEOC charges brought by employees of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation rose nearly 12% between 2009 and 2012, from 6,654 charges to 7,399.
Very few lawsuits ever filed actually go to trial, and of those that go to trial, most plaintiffs are not as successful as they had hoped, with judgments usually ranging from $10,000 – $99,000, which is no surprise .
In short, there appears to be less loyalty on both sides of the hiring equation, terms of employment are getting shorter, more discrimination lawsuits are being filed, but 99% of them will not be prosecuted. Those cases that end in the courtroom usually get small judgments.
With this in mind, what should you look for in an employment attorney? Here is a list of eight topics to consider in your first interview.
Subject to promotion (or not) with your potential attorney
1.) How good is his communication? You don’t need your attorney to be your therapist, but you probably want someone who is easy to talk to (or has someone in his or her office to fill this role), easy to reach by phone, email or text, and who informs you regularly about what is happening in your case. It probably isn’t reasonable to expect your attorney to get in touch with you every day, but once every two weeks it probably makes sense in a long-term representation, unless there’s a lot of activity going on, in which case you might hear from him or her, or an assistant, A few times a week. Find someone at the computer and have literacy.
2.) Use a private investigator. A good investigator can greatly increase the value of a hiring case. A competent and licensed investigator will use computer database searches and personal interviews (by phone and in person) to obtain information about the persons involved in the dispute. Ask your potential new attorney if they use an investigator, and when to bring that person to the case. The earlier, the better. By the time the complaint is lodged, you don’t want there to be any surprises.
3.) Make a full disclosure. Relationships are built on trust, even your relationship with your attorney. He needs to know that you have reported everything potentially relevant in an accurate and complete manner. So, for example, if your potential attorney asks if you’ve ever been convicted of a crime, say so; If your case is otherwise solid, the door won’t show you. If you have other legal issues, bring them up early. Don’t wait for your certificate to be taken. Don’t think that the secrets of your past won’t come out in a legal dispute because they are more likely to come out, and if you don’t disclose them earlier to your lawyer, you lose control of their influence. You want your potential attorney to know all the “dirt” about you before anyone else knows it, so they can deal with the facts, not against them. The same applies to bankruptcies, other lawsuits, arrests, undocumented worker status, and other employment issues with former employers. Your attorney cannot fully assist you unless you disclose fully. Conversely, if your potential attorney does not ask you investigative questions about your past, it may be a sign that he/she is not a good fit for your needs.
4.) To try to resolve early or litigation? There are good employment attorneys whose practice is to litigate first, and resolve later. There are good employment attorneys whose practice is to try to solve the problem first, and then litigate later. Both processes have their benefits and drawbacks, and are subject to a much longer article discussing the potential financial gains of litigation versus the emotional toll. I think both processes are appropriate, depending on the facts, and depending on who you are. Litigation is unpleasant for everyone. You may feel so emotionally beaten that you don’t want to fight any more; You just want accuracy. Or you may have deep, vivid fantasies of seeing your opponent in the courtroom during the trial. Whichever avenue you prefer, there is a lawyer available for you. My only point here is that you should ask your potential attorney what percentage of his or her practice emphasizes early dissolution (before filing a lawsuit) versus litigation. It may actually be in your best interest to ask an experienced litigation attorney to attempt an early resolution of your case, because if he is well known in his area, he is also known to be not afraid of quarrels.
5.) Reasonable Contingency Fee. Practices vary, of course, but it is common for an employment attorney to charge a contingency fee, which is a percentage of your case if it is settled, and nothing if your case is never settled. It is also common for employment attorneys to charge 40% of the total refund, and to take this fee “on top”, that is, before any other amounts are deducted. The costs usually come after the fees are calculated. This, too, can be negotiated. Other than representing minors, where the percentage of fees must be approved by the court, the percentage of attorneys’ fees can be freely negotiated between the parties. As for pre-litigation (the time before the lawsuit is filed), in my opinion the 40% fee is overrated. Before filing the lawsuit, I would advise asking the attorney if they would accept 1/3 (33 1/3%) if your case was settled before filing your complaint.
6.) Ask about your strengths and weaknesses. Take the “Do I have a case?” Step forward by asking your potential attorney, “You see, based on what I’ve told you so far, what do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of my case?” You and he/she need to start training early to develop strengths and reduce weaknesses in your case. Each case has weaknesses. Your employer may be on the verge of bankruptcy. You may have received two years of questionable performance reviews that cannot be linked to a retaliation lawsuit. Your employer may have received another complaint about the person you are complaining about. You may have resigned and never said anything about being harassed. These are all potential facts that will affect the strength or weakness of your case. So ask in advance: “Tell me the truth. What’s good and what’s bad here?”
7.) Go armed to the bear. If you really want to impress your potential attorney, take with you to the meeting a list of people who have agreed to talk to him or her about what happened to you at work, along with their phone numbers. Stable witnesses, as these people are called, are invaluable in the case. Anyone can prove what you claim is useful. Anyone who has had an experience very similar to having this with a coworker, supervisor, or employer is an asset.
8. Don’t ask “What is the value of my case?” A good attorney won’t tell you. An experienced attorney cannot tell from the first meeting what your case is worth, and you put him or her in a difficult position by asking. I had one case that came into my office several years ago that at first seemed to be worth about a hundred thousand dollars; And she settled for nearly four million dollars two years later, after all the terrible facts came to light. On the other hand, I’ve had cases that I initially thought were worth seven figures that shrank in value as the facts emerged. The value is subjective, and depends on the facts. So if you ask about the value of your case, your potential attorney might frankly say something like, “It depends!”