Should we seek a lawyer

Re: Should we seek a lawyer

• Sisugal member

  

  October 2013

  Has he asked them what he needs to do to "improve" his performance to meet their expectations?  You can't fix what you do not know is broken.  There seems to be a miss-match in expectations and performance.  (Not saying he did anything wrong - just not what they are expecting).
  He needs to have a conversation or performance review concerning job responsibilities and their evaluation of his performance.
  
  
  

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• hoffse member

  

  October 2013

  I'm a lawyer so I'm chiming in.  A few disclaimers: first, I don't do labor and employment as my primary practice (thank god) and second, I'm not your lawyer so I can't give you real legal advice.  But I can tell you to ask yourself a few things before you go seek a lawyer:

  
  

  First, does he have a contract?  If not, then he is probably an at-will employee.  This means they can hire or fire him whenever they want, and they won't owe him a dime beyond what he has actually earned.  If he does have a contract, is his pay stipulated? Has the contract expired?

  
  

  Second, only a few "reasons" for demotion are protected by law.  These include being demoted for your sex, race, religion, etc.  It's called Title VII.  Being demoted because your boss decides he doesn't like you or because he decides you aren't attractive enough are not what we call "protected classes."  In other words, unless you fit into a pretty narrow category, odds are they can do what they want.

  
  

  Third, what is it worth to you?  Lawyers aren't cheap.  I'm at a mid-size firm and barely in my second year of practice.  I bill at $185/hour, and I bill in quarter hour increments.  The partners I work for bill at $400ish/hour and bill in tenth of the hour increments - in other words, they bill about $40 for every 6 minutes of work.  Before you have a heart attack, do recognize that's actually pretty cheap because we're in a smaller market at a medium-sized firm.   If you live in a larger city, it will be hard to find a good lawyer for less than that.  

  
  

  So at $1/hour for a full time job you're talking about a loss of $40/week or $160/month before tax.  After tax it's actually a bit less than that.  I would burn through that month of lost earnings in the time it took for us to set up a meeting, get together, and ask and answer questions.

  
  

  You could consult somebody who advertises that s/he doesn't bill you unless s/he wins.  But those people are paid contingency fees, usually 1/3 of your winnings.  And frankly, the lawyers who operate this way and still do really good work tend to play in the big leagues - like class actions and such.  They may not take you on at all, so you'd be stuck with a person who bills by the hour.
  

  

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• hoffse member

  

  October 2013

  I'll say this one other thing - there are plenty of decent small shops out there.  But you need to be careful selecting one.  I admit I'm pretty biased on this because I work in a firm, and I didn't hang out my own shingle, but I'm naturally a little suspicious of "firms" with fewer than 5 attorneys.... that is, unless the attorneys are older and were trained in big firms during their younger days.  

  
  

  Why?  Because even with 50 lawyers we often get questions that not one of us knows the answer to off the bat - so it takes team effort, meetings, thought experiments, lots of research, and most of all, time for us to get to a solution that we think is the best one for a given problem.  The fewer people you have in a firm, the less likely you are to have the people or the resources needed to address the problems that come through the door.

  
  

  Granted, some areas have similar problems crop up more often than others - from what I hear, L&E seems to be one of those areas.  But you would think the area I work in (primarily corporate, tax, and nonprofit) would also be pretty consistent.  Turns out, I've had at least 6 projects land on my desk in the last 4 months where the partner started with the words, "So, I don't really know what we should do about this..."

  
  

  But, I'm biased.  And the only people I know who started their own firms at a young age did so because the larger firms wouldn't hire them.

  

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• vlagrl29 member

  

  October 2013

  There needs to be some sort of communication, preferably in writing.  Why did he get demoted and loss in pay?  You DH needs to get some balls and stand up for himself.  I don't mean to sound rude but his boss seems like a bully.  I would be looking for another job STAT if I were him.

  
  

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• Xstatic3333 member

  

  October 2013

  Sisugal said:

  Has he asked them what he needs to do to "improve" his performance to meet their expectations?  You can't fix what you do not know is broken.  There seems to be a miss-match in expectations and performance.  (Not saying he did anything wrong - just not what they are expecting).
  He needs to have a conversation or performance review concerning job responsibilities and their evaluation of his performance.
  
  
  

  I agree with this. I once felt I was being treated unfairly at a job, until I had my performance review. Once I saw things from my supervisor's side, I understood why I'd had a hard time fitting in. I was able change my "style" and get back in her good graces quickly. Now, if he gets nothing constructive from the performance review, I'm sorry to say but I'd recommend your H start to get his resume in order. I wouldn't bother with a layer unless they are breaching his contract. Good luck, I hope it works out!

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