Originally published by Eric Quitugua.
We had fun this spring and hope you did too. For a look at what we’ve been up to, check out the June issue of the Texas Bar Journal, in which we introduce the bar’s new leadership and showcase the work of some very talented attorney authors and students K-12.
Curated by Texas Bar Today. Follow us on Twitter @texasbartoday.
Originally published by Academic Support.
We invest so much in the success of our students and the excellency of our programs that we forget the role that criticism can play in our own professional development.
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Originally published by Texas Lawyer.
The unanimous decision struck down a Texas county’s attempt to avoid a Title VII lawsuit.
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Originally published by David Coale.
Curated by Texas Bar Today. Follow us on Twitter @texasbartoday.
Originally published by Joanna Herzik.
To highlight some of the posts that stand out from the crowd, the editors of Texas Bar Today have created a list from the week’s blog posts of the top ten based on subject matter, writing style, headline, and imagery. We hope you enjoy this installment.
10. Ratification Issue Did Not Provide Path to Attorneys’ Fees – Ryan Lammert of McGinnis Lochridge @mcginnislaw in Austin
9. $334,500 Age Discrimination Verdict Against Time Warner Cable Upheld on Appeal – Christopher McKinney @CJMcKinney of The Mckinney Law Firm, P.C.
8. NLRB Restresses Risk of Firing Employees Who Discuss Pay – Robert G. Chadwick, Jr. @chadwicklawusa of Seltzer Chadwick Soefje & Ladik, PLLC in Frisco
7. What Businesses Can Learn From the Apple and Qualcomm Partnership Disputes – MehaffyWeber, P.C. @MehaffyWeber in Houston
6. Viewing Law as a Work of Art: A Q&A with Adriana López-Ortiz – Grable Martin Fulton PLLC in Southlake
5. What if the IRS Violates the Law? – Kreig Mitchell LLC @irs_tax_trouble in Houston
4. Immunity Under the Texas Environmental, Health, and Safety Audit Privilege Act – C. William Smalling of The Law Office of C. William Smalling, P.C. in Houston
3. The “Wispiness” – or Not – of the TCPA – Ken Carroll of Carrington Coleman Sloman & Blumenthal LLP in Dallas
2. Copyright Woes are Over the Rainbow: Harold Arlen Estate Sues Tech Giants – Peggy Keene of Klemchuk LLP @K_LLP in Dallas
1. Reasonableness and undue burden for captioning websites – there are precedents – Richard Hunt of Hunt Huey PLLC in Dallas
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Originally published by Christopher McKinney.
ADEA – Age Discrimination in Employment Act
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has let stand a $334,500 jury verdict for a 61-year-old employee who the company fired over a single incident of backdating a form.
The Plaintiff, Glenda Westmoreland, had worked for a Time Warner Cable subsidiary for more than 30 years, was fired after instructing a subordinate to backdate a form to reflect the date of a related meeting, rather than the date the form was actually completed. TWC initially told her the infraction wasn’t serious but later concluded that she had violated company policy prohibiting false statements and created “trust and integrity” issues. While walking her to her car, a supervisor told the Plaintiff, “You’ll get another job. Just go home and take care of those grandbabies.” Westmoreland sued, alleging age discrimination.
A jury found for Westmoreland and, on appeal, the 4th Circuit upheld the verdict. TWC’s “about face” on the disciplinary matter could give rise to a “suspicion of mendacity” about the company’s rationale for firing her, the court said. It also noted that company representatives had testified that there were lesser forms of discipline available. As a result, the court said, the jury could reasonably find that Westmoreland’s firing for one infraction that did not require termination was “such an extreme overreaction as to be pretextual.” In addition, the jury could have found that the “grandbabies” comment was made by a supervisor who harbored age bias, the court said.
Age discrimination in employment is illegal, but two-thirds of older job seekers report encountering it. Employees between the ages of 46 and 65 (especially those nearing retirement age) are the most likely to be targeted. Those employees are often let go by employers who perceive them to be more expensive and less valuable than younger replacements.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) exists to protect individuals who are 40 years of age or older from employment discrimination based on age. The ADEA’s protections apply to both employees and job applicants. Under the ADEA, it is unlawful to discriminate against a person because of his/her age with respect to any term, condition, or privilege of employment — including, but not limited to, hiring, firing, promotion, layoff, compensation, benefits, job assignments, and training.
You can read the full 4th Circuit opinion here.
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Originally published by The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC Blog.
In some instances, spouses will come into our law office to discuss the
possibility of our office representing both of them in an upcoming
divorce. They have already hatched a plan to settle all of the outstanding issues
in their case. All that they need now is an attorney to file the divorce
and get the process started. The spouses, in their minds, would rely on
that attorney for advice on particular issues and then would finish out
the divorce by drawing up all the court orders that a judge would eventually
sign their name to.
On the outside, this seems like a nice plan. Lawyers, popular belief holds,
typically muddy up the waters and make life more difficult for spouses
who are entering into a divorce. What’s more- attorneys will charge
you money in order to do so. The divorce would likely take longer as a
result and take up more time that could be devoted to their family or
other interests. With these circumstances in mind, spouses will come in
and see if this dream can be their reality. Unfortunately I will need
to steer them out of this mindset for a number of reasons that we will
discuss in today’s blog post.
Conflict in interest when an attorney represents two spouses in a divorce
If you and your spouse find yourself in a situation where you agree on
absolutely every issue in your divorce then you are certainly in a unique
position. Even the most amicable of divorces have a few issues that need
to be sorted out before the case can truly be said to be done. Even in
situations where you and your spouse agree on every or most every issue
you are still technically opposing parties in your divorce. Because of
this an attorney cannot adequately represent both you and your spouse’s
interests.
With all of this said, there are still options available to people in your
position who would like to limit the costs associated with hiring two
attorneys in a divorce. First of all, you and your spouse can forego hiring
two attorneys and have you or your spouse hire an attorney while the other
remains unrepresented. The other is to have neither of you hire an attorney
and instead utilize the services of a divorce mediator to mediate any
outstanding issues that are relevant in your case.
Mediating your case instead of hiring lawyers
If you and your spouse would like, you can hire a private
mediator to intercede into your divorce case and to help you and your spouse craft
a settlement on any outstanding issues in your case. This means that issues
related to children and property will all be settled in mediation- or
will be attempted to be settled in mediation. A mediator will typically
be a practicing family law attorney him or herself. The mediator will
charge you and your spouse a set amount of money for either a half day
or full day mediation.
The job of the mediator is basically to act as a ping pong ball- bouncing
in between you and your spouse in order to help you both come together
to come up with the specific terms that will create your final orders.
If you and your spouse have a general understanding of what your custody/visitation
agreement will look like for your children after the divorce a mediator
will help you to create something that is specific and able to stand the
test of time. Likewise, all property matters will hopefully be settled
in mediation. Who remains in the family home (if any), what spouse gets
what share of your community estate and any other issues related to property
matters will also be sorted out.
Mediations will typically occur at the office of the mediator. You will
be in one room while your spouse is in the other. Sometimes spouses will
agree to be in the same room and to negotiate across the table from one
another. From my experience this can be a tough atmosphere to negotiate
in as a glance of the eye or a curl of the lip can aggravate/frustrate
the other side.
The mediated settlement agreement
A Mediated Settlement Agreement (MSA) is what you and your spouse will
be negotiating for in mediation. The MSA contains all of the agreements
that you and your spouse came up with and will act as the guide for whichever
spouse ultimately ends up writing your
final decree of divorce. He or she will take the MSA and turn its language into an order that
a judge will be comfortable signing their name to.
Your mediator will likely walk you through each item in the MSA and will
make sure you understand everything contained therein. Usually your attorney
would do this but if you don’t have one the mediator can certainly
explain the points of the MSA to you. However, he or she is not able to
advise you on whether or not something is a “good idea” for
you to enter into with your spouse. The mediator can refer you and your
spouse to an attorney who can draft an order based on the language contained
in the MSA but will not represent either you or your spouse.
Although mediation costs money it is typically a small sum of money compared
to the costs of hiring an attorney and going through an extended family
law case. On the other hand, you will not be able to receive any advice
or pointers on what you are negotiating and you will not be able to rely
upon your attorney’s years of family law experience in negotiating
a settlement in your divorce case.
Texas divorce cases are most likely to end in mediation. The vast majority
of divorces where the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC represents one spouse
end in mediation. However, if you and your spouse cannot settle in mediation
your options become somewhat limited. You have already exercised the most
likely route to a settlement and have failed to reach an agreement. If
you find yourselves in this position it is likely that at least one of
you will now move to hire an attorney to represent your interests.
One family law attorney to represent you or your spouse
The other option that you and your spouse can choose to take on is to have
one of you hire an attorney and for the other spouse to be unrepresented.
The represented spouse will be responsible for filing the divorce and
drafting a final decree of divorce once a settlement is reached. The main
advantage this spouse will have is the ability to receive advice about
the divorce process from their attorney. If you are represented by an
attorney you would know if entering into an agreement on a particular
issue were a good idea or not. You would also know how a negotiating strategy
could backfire or have unintended consequences for you years down the road.
In many situations this is an arrangement that works out well for people.
Our office has represented clients who are in basic agreement with their
spouses on the terms of their divorce. The key thing to understand is
that most attorneys are not looking to stir up trouble- on the contrary,
these folks are more than happy to work on behalf of their client to resolve
whatever issues are in play. It is usually simple, straightforward divorce
cases where this method works out for both spouses in the divorce.
Questions about the different methods for completing a divorce? Contact
the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC
There are more ways than one to skin a cat, and there is more than one
way to get a divorce. Just because you have a friend or family member
who got divorced one way doesn’t mean there aren’t a handful
of other options for you and your spouse to pursue.
If you are interested in speaking to an attorney in order to begin your
divorce please consider
contacting the
Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC. We represent clients just like you in our community and we would be honored
to do the same for you and your family. A consultation with one of our
licensed family law attorneys is at no charge to you.
Curated by Texas Bar Today. Follow us on Twitter @texasbartoday.
