Asked: Our weekly question to the In-House community

It’s all about the money and, this week, in-house counsels have advice on how to save those dollar bills in class action lawsuits.

According to Inside Counsel, legal executives recommended alternative fee arrangements to cut costs in class-action lawsuits. They also advised in-house departments to spend more time on these matters rather than giving the work to outside counsel. Finally, general counsels said to conduct early case assessments in order to have more time to map out a strategy.

So here’s our question for you:

What are ways you think would cut costs in class-action lawsuits?

Leave a comment below or email me.

Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to Monday and the final day of the 2013 Maryland General Assembly session. Here are a few news items to get the week started.

– The dean of the Supreme Court press corps explains the same-sex marriage cases to a foreign audience.

– The National Football League will urge federal judge to kick a lawsuit out of court.

– A friend’s call for a Navy investigation of an alleged suicide sounds like an “NCIS” episode.

– New York politicians urge city to settle lawsuit that followed 1990 attack on Central Park jogger.

Happy Monday, Happy Holy Week and Happy Passover!

Here are some items to get your week of piety started.

– A look at the role of federalism in the upcoming Supreme Court arguments on same-sex marriage.

– In other Supreme Court news, the high court has agreed to hear another case involving affirmative action and college admissions.

– In case you missed it last week, “Mr. Burns” presided over the trial of “Bart Simpson.”

– Did you hear the one about the law school student who fell off a classroom chair and sued?  (HT: Above the Law)

– That laser pointer you use for your presentations might be illegal.

Welcome to the first Monday in a month of madness. Here are some news items to get your week started.

– Wrongful foreclosures on military members exceed estimates.

– Do the opponents of Proposition 8, which would ban same-sex marriage in California, have standing?

– Red-light camera company faces storm of corruption allegations in the Windy City.

– Michelob maker mounts media campaign amid lawsuits alleging the company waters down its beer.

Welcome to Monday and the day we honor 43 native-born Americans who, after attaining age 35, swore to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Here are some news items to get the week started.

– Should fledgling lawyers have to to serve a medical-style residency?

– President Barack Obama’s pick to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, a former Wall Street lawyer, might have to recuse herself from many decisions if confirmed.

– Passengers face rough seas when suing cruise-ship companies.

– Free legal aid for low-income military veterans opens in Ohio.

What’s the cost of a mediocre grade in a college course? To Megan Thode, it’s $1.3 million.

The former Lehigh University graduate student is suing over a “C+” in an internship class, saying she deserved a “B” and that the lower grade prevented her from advancing toward her desired degree and becoming a licensed therapist, the Express-Times reported.

The professor testified in Northampton County Court in Pennsylvania that Thode was downgraded in her class participation score for outbursts and inappropriate behavior. Thode ended up with a master’s in education in human development instead of a master’s in education in counseling psychology, which, according to her lawsuit, would result in $1.3 million more in salary over a lifetime.

Thode isn’t the first student to sue for a higher grade. The Huffington Post listed cases of grading lawsuits from Texas Southern University’s law school, the University of Massachusetts and Canada’s Concordia University.

Welcome to Monday and the first week of spring training. Here are some news items before pitchers and catchers report.

– Should Securities and Exchange Commission lawyers be permitted to jump to Wall Street firms and vice versa?

– Final U.S. book publisher settles e-book antitrust case.

– Michigan courts might have a secret problem.

– Women sue “revenge porn” website.

Welcome to the morning after. I hope you enjoyed the game.

Here are some news items to assist in the recovery.

– Supreme Court justice and best-selling author Sonia Sotomayor’s book tour hits New York.

– The California city of Bell encounters legal hell.

– Civil rights attorneys challenge police surveillance of Muslim communities.

– Man’s murder had malty motive.

Looks like there’s a lot shakin’ at Womble Carlyle these days.

After some high-profile shake-ups in the law firm’s Baltimore office, it is now facing a disability discrimination lawsuit from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

A former office assistant filed the suit in U.S. District Court in North Carolina last week, claiming she had been terminated for a disability that resulted from breast cancer treatments, The AmLaw Daily reported.

As part of her condition, the former assistant swelled up in places all over her body and was not able to lift heavy objects, symptoms explained to her workplace with a doctor’s note.

After a human resources director told her the firm was worried she couldn’t perform her job properly by not being able to lift objects weighing over 10 pounds, she was placed on disability leave for a month, then terminated.

The former assistant is now seeking punitive damages and compensation as well as a court-ordered injunction on the company’s hiring practices.

The Daily Record had its holiday party over the weekend, and yours might be just around the corner. But before you raise your glass in celebration of the season, I thought I’d pass along some thoughts on legal issues relating to work party soirees.

Getting toasted

What if you’ve had one too many drinks and need a lift home? Does your employer have to pay for your transportation? Your employer only has to keep you safe when you are on the clock, so if the party is not during company time the employer is most likely not responsible for providing a ride.

“Driving home is not normally considered part of the work day unless the employee is paid for that time,” notes John P. Hancock, Jr., a lawyer with Butzel Long in Detroit.

Dancing the Night Away

If you feel like cutting a rug after one too many eggnogs and then hurt yourself — or someone else — on the dance floor, does workers’ compensation apply?

Hancock said it depends on where the party takes place.

“If the company has the party at a restaurant or other public place and there is a cash bar rather than an open bar, the injuries resulting from intoxication may not be covered by workers’ comp,” he says.

“Each state is different, but if it is a party run and supplied by the employer and especially if it is on the company premises, it is likely any injuries at the party will be covered by workers’ comp,” Hancock added.

Ways to Recover

If you get hurt by a drunk coworker, there are a couple of legal recourses.

“The injured employee or bystander could always go after premises liability,” Hancock said. This means he could sue the owner of the property where the injury occurred. And you can sue for negligence.

Careful what you say….

Finally, make sure that you watch what you say, even though you are not in the office. Teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that aren’t extremly offensive likely won’t rise to the level of sexual harassment, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“Harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted),” the agency has said.