Are you a card-carrying member of The Advocates for Human Rights?

Are you now or have you ever been a member of the ... Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights (a/k/a The Advocates for Human Rights? The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota? The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy?

Well then, to paraphrase Jeff Foxworthy, you might just be a liberal -- at least under the into-the-rabbit-hole logic apparently in play at the Department of Justice during the tenure of Alberto Gonzales. The Minnesota Independent (formerly known as the Minnesota Monitor) reports today that those three prominent local legal organization were on a list of "liberal groups" membership in which could get a qualified candidate deselected for the Attorney Generals Honors Program and the Summer Law Intern Program.

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[Source: Minnesota Lawyer Blog]

Lawyer found dead was in bitter divorce (The Tennessean)

The body of a Nashville lawyer was found in a closet in his West End area home in what police are characterizing as a suspicious death. Search to see what crimes were reported in your neighborhood.

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[Source: Yahoo! News Search Results for lawyer]

Some judges getting fed up with legislative budget cuts

Minnesota Lawyer has an interesting piece this week on the Judicial Council debate last week on whether or not to impose a moratorium on all civil jury trials. The discussion occurred at a Judicial Council meeting held during the Minnesota State Bar Association's annual convention in Duluth. The council ultimately rejected the idea, but not before some frustration was vented about lawmakers' treatment of the courts in the budget process. (Click here to see the article.)

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[Source: Minnesota Lawyer Blog]

Lawyer: NBA trying to vilify disgraced referee (Sports Illustrated)

NEW YORK (AP) -- The NBA wants to financially "destroy" disgraced referee Tim Donaghy for embarrassing the league during the playoffs with allegations that referees were encouraged to manipulate results through foul calls, his lawyer charged Monday.

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[Source: Yahoo! News Search Results for lawyer]

Court says right to lawyer begins soon after arrest (AP via Yahoo! News)

The Supreme Court says an indigent defendant's right to a lawyer begins when he is brought before a judge, informed why he has been arrested and jailed.

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[Source: Yahoo! News Search Results for lawyer]

Lawyer Says N.B.A. Is Trying to Intimidate Donaghy (New York Times)

The N.B.A.?s attempt to recoup nearly $1.4 million in restitution from the disgraced referee Tim Donaghy is ?a transparent attempt at witness intimidation,? his lawyer said Monday.

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[Source: Yahoo! News Search Results for lawyer]

Lawyer denies swaying witness (Perth Now)

Perth lawyer Josephine Pepe warned a client against testifying in a trial involving her de facto partner, a court heard.

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[Source: Yahoo! News Search Results for lawyer]

Lawyer says defendant wasn't drunk in fatal Sacramento crash, blames other driver (The Sacramento Bee)

In a surprising twist, the defense lawyer for a political activist charged with killing four people while driving drunk told jurors Monday his client was not intoxicated and blamed the other driver for the bloody wreck. Roberto P. Vellanoweth listens to opening arguments Monday in Sacramento Superior Court. He is charged with being intoxicated and causing a crash that killed four people ...

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[Source: Yahoo! News Search Results for lawyer]

Ex-lawyer's readmission hearing will go ahead (NZPA via Yahoo!Xtra News)

Disbarred Auckland lawyer Christopher Harder's application to be reinstated is set to begin tomorrow after he lost a legal challenge over the admissibility of some evidence at his hearing.

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[Source: Yahoo! News Search Results for lawyer]

Gangland lawyer's boyfriend bailed (Adelaide Now)

GANGLAND lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson's boyfriend has been released on bail after appearing in court today.

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[Source: Yahoo! News Search Results for lawyer]

Lawyer: NBA's trying to vilify disgraced ref (AP via Yahoo! News)

A lawyer for disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy says his client is being vilified by the league's demand for nearly $1.4 million in restitution in his gambling case.

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[Source: Yahoo! News Search Results for lawyer]

Lawyer: NBA wants to financially 'destroy' bet ref (AP via Yahoo! News)

The NBA wants to financially "destroy" disgraced referee Tim Donaghy for embarrassing the league during the playoffs with allegations that outcomes of previous games were purposely manipulated by bad calls, his lawyer charged Monday.

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[Source: Yahoo! News Search Results for lawyer]

Justice delayed and denied

I was glad to see the public-defense crisis got some ink from the Star Tribune over the weekend. In an unusual move (for us anyway) demonstrating the importance of the subject, Minnesota Lawyer dedicated almost all of its front-page last week to the topic. (Click here and here for the two page 1 Minnesota Lawyer stories ran.) The Pioneer Press has also had excellent pieces on the public-defense crisis written by Ruben Rosario ("State public defender cuts imperil us all")" and Ramsey County District Court Judge Edward Cleary ("Public-defender cuts undermine justice system, and we'll all pay.")

We hear the alarm bells raised quite a bit on various topics these days -- so much so that we can grow tone death to the constant blare of the sirens. However, I cannot emphasize enough that this is not a"run-of-the-mill" problem for the justice system. I am still having difficulty believing these cuts were actually made to the public-defense budget. Not only does they cut off access to justice for some of the state's poorest citizens, but they clog the wheels of justice for everyone else. And this happens as the courts deal with budget cuts of their own, creating a "perfect storm" scenario.

In a decade of covering the state's justice's system, I can recall no other fiscal measure as irresponsible and wrongheaded as the public-defense budget cuts. What a terrible 150th birthday gift to the citizens of Minnesota.

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[Source: Minnesota Lawyer Blog]

Government Encouraging Supreme Court to Grant Writ in ADEA Case

Scotus Blog reports that the U.S. Solicitor General has recommended the Supreme Court grant certiorari in case No. 06-1505, Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Lab, et al., limited to the question asking whether, under the Court's 2005 decision in Smith v. City of Jackson, an employee alleging disparate impact under the ADEA has the burden of persuasion in establishing "reasonable factors other than age."

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

New Website Design

Thanks to Mike Fox of Jottings by an Employer's Lawyer for his mention of our site's new design.  It's my hope that the new layout will give visitors easier access to useful information on our site.If you have not already done so, I would encourage you to visit Jottings and bookmark it.  It is truly one of the finest information sources for anyone working in HR.  It is one of the few sites that I check every single day.  You should too.

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Tyson Wants High Court to Redefine "Work"

Lawyers for Tyson Foods are challenging a U.S. appeals court ruling that compensable work includes the putting on and taking off of protective work clothing and are calling on the Supreme Court to resolve what the company claims to be a conflict in the courts of appeal.Monday's petition for a writ of certiorari was filed with the Supreme Court by attorneys representing poultry processor Tyson Foods Inc., which faces more than 30 wage-and-hour lawsuits on behalf of tens of thousands of factory...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Labor Case Set for Oral Argument at Supreme Court

Chamber of Commerce v. Brown has been set for argument by the Supreme Court for March 19th. The Court is set to decide whether the National Labor Relations Act preempts a California law barring private employers from using state grant or program funds to influence union organizing campaigns.You can find the case briefing here. Source: ScotusBlog

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

More Supreme Court Employment Law Activity this Week

Two interesting cases are being argued this week in the Supreme court:On Tuesday, the Court is scheduled to hear argument in Gomez-Perez v. Potter (06-1321), on whether the Age Discrimination in Employment Act bars retaliation by public employers for the filing of age discrimination complaints.On Wednesday, the Court is scheduled to hear oral argument in CBOCS West v. Humphries (06-1431), on whether employees may bring race retaliation claims under 42 USC 1981.In Gomez-Perez v. Potter,...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Adventures in Questionable HR Management

Yes friends, it's time once again to issue our Questionable HR Management Award Grand Prize. As you know we periodically hand out this prestigious award to a company that has shown particularly bad HR judgment and a complete lack of common sense. Today the award goes to Packaging Corporation of America in Counce, Tenn. for its inadvisable termination of an employee in response to said employee's election to the Mississippi State Senate. According to the Clarion Ledger, Freshman state Sen....

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Bush's NLRB Legacy

Ross Runkle over at Ross' Employment Law Blog has begun an excellent series on President Bush's NLRB Legacy. In part 1 he addressed the Bush Board's elimination of Weingarten rights for non-union employees. Part 2 address restrictions on employee use of employer's email for union solicitation. You can follow the series here.

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Supreme Court: EEOC Intake Questionnaire Counts as a Formal Charge

In Federal Express Corp. v. Holowecki, the United State Supreme Court ruled that the EEOC's Intake Questionnaire adequately meets the requirements of a "Charge" to trigger an employee's rights to sue his or her employer in court. The plaintiff submitted to the EEOC an Intake Questionnaire with an affidavit contending that her employer was engaging in age discrimination. The EEOC did nothing with the Questionnaire for six months. The employer was not notified and no charge number was assigned....

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Senate Republicans Block Fair Pay Measure

Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a measure intended to overturn a Supreme Court decision limiting pay discrimination suits in a politically charged vote certain to be replayed in the presidential and Congressional campaigns. By a vote of 56 to 42, the Senate fell four votes short of the 60 required to begin consideration of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, named for an Alabama woman who lost a case against the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company when the court found she not did file her...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Democrats Oppose FMLA Changes

Democrats on Congressional Hill are voicing opposition to the proposed changes to the FMLA implementing regulations recently announced by the U.S. Department of Labor. Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) recently expressed their concern that the proposed changes would discourage employees from exercising their right to take family and medical leave. Senator Dodd, the Subcommittee chairman and sponsor of the original FMLA, identified proposals allowing employers to require...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Honolulu jury awards $3M to city ex-official in whistleblower case.

A Circuit Court jury Friday awarded a former Honolulu city official more than $3 million dollars, upholding her claim that she lost her job in 2003 for blowing the whistle on what she saw as wrongdoing in the administration of the former Mayor.The jury deliberated a half-day before returning a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, awarding her just more than $1 million in lost wages and retirement benefits and $2 million in general damages for pain and suffering inflicted on her by city...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

"Don't put this in writing, but ... "

Just came across a good article at Law.com dealing with the implementation of new e-discovery rules that are forcing companies to turn over damning evidence that has been stored electronically. General Counsels are pulling their hair out trying to educate their managers and others that email often lasts forever and that they should not opine as to the reason an employee was fired, etc. using email. The article features several types of emails that cause the most trouble. Some of my favorite...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Dogs get their day

Will we see a spike in dog-bite cases filed next week? Today is, after all, Take Your Dog to Work Day.

OK, its unlikely that the annual canine celebration will end up being a boon for plaintiff or defense lawyers. At least I certainly hope that doesnt happen! In fact, I absolutely love the idea of employees all over the country bringing their furry four-legged friends to spend the day with them at work. Unfortunately, I dont think that a lot of people participate -- either because their employer wont allow it, or its simply too much of a hassle. I know I didnt see any dogs on my walk into the office this morning.

I also doubt that many, if any, downtown big-firm lawyers are taking part in the annual occasion -- but perhaps some solo or small-firm attorneys are participating? (Id love to hear about your experience if you did bring your dog in -- how your co-workers and/or clients reacted, whether the dog behaved, whether you felt more productive?)

People do love their pooches and many would enjoy having them at work -- everyday if they could. The proof? According to a survey conducted by FunStuffForDogs.com, 44 percent of dog owners say theyd give up 10 percent of their salary if they could bring their dog to work. Thats a surprisingly high percentage, even to an animal lover like me.

One caveat to my enthusiasm about this celebratory day: As someone with several feline friends at home (please dont ask how many), I feel a little let down that theres no Take Your Cat To Work Day

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[Source: Minnesota Lawyer Blog]