D.C. Legal Aid Lawyers See Uptick in Wage Violation Cases

Legal aid lawyers in Washington, D.C., are dealing with a spike in wage violation complaints, leading at least one nonprofit to train workers to gather evidence to help their legal cases. Several legal aid offices have been affected, the Washington Post reports. The Northern Virginia office of the Legal Aid…

Mar 19, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

11th Circuit Grants En Banc Hearing Sua Sponte in Sex Harassment Case

Plaintiffs attorney Edward Hawkins and law professor Eric Schnapper of the University of Washington had petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider a sexual harassment case brought by two men against Home Depot USA Inc. But they had made such no request of the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of…

Mar 17, 2010 10:25 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Defamation Suit Blames Wilmer Cutler for Loss of Temp Job

A temporary lawyer is blaming Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr for the loss of his job with an outsourcing company in a defamation lawsuit filed against the law firm. James Zhang says legal staffing company Special Counsel Inc. wouldn’t employ him after a March 2009 stint at Wilmer’s Washington,…

Mar 17, 2010 12:31 PM CDT

Detroit to Tell Workers to Tone Down Scented Products Under ADA Settlement

The scent of litigation success isn’t a sweet smell for at least one plaintiff who recently won a $100,000 settlement in a federal Americans with Disabilities Act discrimination case. As part of the pact in the federal lawsuit filed by planner Susan McBride, the city of Detroit has agreed to…

Mar 16, 2010 5:16 PM CDT

Ex-Partner and Ex-Associate Battle Anapol Schwartz PI Firm Over Pay

The pay war began when Anapol Schwartz Weiss Cohan Feldman & Smalley voted to demote Howard Levin from the partnership to counsel status last year. He initially said he would accept, then, months later, changed his mind, according to a lawsuit the firm filed in Pennsylvania state court last year.…

Mar 16, 2010 4:52 PM CDT

Ex-DLA Piper Partner Tells UK Tribunal She Was Fired for Being Pregnant

A former partner at DLA Piper told a United Kingdom employment tribunal yesterday that the law firm was “an old boys’ club” that fired her because she was pregnant. Former real estate partner Sarah Sweeney alleged that the managing partner of the firm’s Liverpool office, Philip Rooney, said women who…

Mar 16, 2010 3:08 PM CDT

Exotic Dancer’s Suit Challenges Independent Contractor Status

An exotic dancer who says she once made up to $100,000 a year in tips claims in a lawsuit that the club where she once danced should have classified her as an employee rather than an independent contractor. Dancer Quansa Thompson, who went by the stage name “Love,” claims the…

Mar 15, 2010 1:25 PM CDT

EEOC Subpoenas Law Firm Documents in Sex Harassment Probe

Updated: The Malaise Law Firm in San Antonio, Texas, is clashing with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the agency’s investigation of alleged sexual harassment at the law firm. The EEOC announced in a press release that it has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to enforce a subpoena for information…

Mar 11, 2010 3:36 PM CST

Burned Ex-Reed Smith Associate Back on Track for Trial After Appellate Win

An ex-associate who said her use of her dominant hand was impaired after it was burned during a Reed Smith trial training program is back in the litigation ballgame against her former employer. A trial court in 2007 had dismissed the 2003 disability discrimination case that Danielle Cesarano brought against…

Mar 4, 2010 10:31 PM CST

Crowell & Moring Touts Dropped Bias Suit as ‘Complete Vindication’

A former administrative staffer who claimed she was fired from Crowell & Moring because of her age has dropped her lawsuit without reaching a settlement. Mona Saunders, 54, had worked at the law firm for 18 years before she was fired last year. Both sides agreed to dismiss the case…

Mar 4, 2010 1:29 PM CST

Arnold & Porter’s Age Policy Cited as Reason Partner Skipped to Davis Polk

At age 69, Michael Sohn’s law practice has never been better. But if he stayed at Arnold & Porter past his 70th birthday, he’d be required to retire or significantly downsize his workload. So Sohn is leaving the firm he once chaired and is moving on to Davis Polk &…

Mar 2, 2010 2:54 PM CST

NY Prosecutor Clears ACORN Workers in Pimp and Hooker Incident

Prosecutors in New York on Monday found no criminal wrongdoing in the investigation of employees of the liberal grass-roots group ACORN who were caught on video giving tax advice to a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute. In a statement, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said that after…

Mar 2, 2010 1:31 PM CST

Ex-MoFo Secretary Claims Associate Threatened to Bring Uzi to Work

Among the accusations hurled in a wrongful termination suit filed last month, a former Morrison & Foerster secretary claims that one of the firm’s associates once threatened to bring an Uzi to work and kill people if a fax wasn’t located. The secretary, Aileen Martinez, specifically accuses Mimi Yang of…

Mar 2, 2010 1:12 PM CST

Ex-Secretary Sues Drinker Biddle Over Alleged Overtime Pay Violation

A former secretary at Drinker Biddle & Reath has sued the law firm, alleging that it agreed to pay her overtime but didn’t. During the time she worked at the firm, from 2006 to 2008, the firm knew she was working additional hours and “required this extra work as a…

Mar 1, 2010 10:12 PM CST

Real Estate Realities

Mar 1, 2010 11:10 AM CST