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Attorney Employment Law - Where Good Representation Counts
from: EmploymentPulse.comYou might not realize this, but when it comes to attorney employment law, attorneys don't specialize in certain areas. Why? They all take the same exams to pass the bar, so finding a legal representative, an attorney employment law practitioner, should be fairly easy. All of them should be able to do this type of law, to a greater or lesser degree. Bottom line here is, there are relatively few ways for an attorney employment law specialist to actually BE a specialist.
Don't get the wrong impression though that attorneys don't have their particular areas of expertise. If you need one - an attorney employment law person - you can find one.
Employment law is a mixture of civil rights law, statutory torts and common law torts, not to mention adding in federal versus state laws. So if you need someone in this area, then best to check your lawyer out with the State Bar Association to find out how extensive the attorney's experience is in this area before you hire him/her.
Something you should keep in mind is the expense factor of an attorney. Employment law experts can run up to $300.00 an hour or more. It takes hundreds of hours to try a case. If you've just been fired, you aren't going to be able to afford an attorney. But, if you have what appears to be a really good case, then you might try asking the attorney about contingency fees. That's where the attorney gets a portion (from 1/3rd to 45 percent or higher) of what the client recovers.
Before taking any case and trying it before the courts, you have to settle fees with your attorney. Employment law cases take several things into consideration. For instance, does the case have a good chance of winning? If it looks like a crap shoot chances are the lawyer will not take you on a contingency fee basis. It's his/her time and money, and they need to spend it in the best way possible.
Another consideration for your potential case would be whether or not there are any damages. If you got another job the next day and for more money than at the place that fired you, where are the damages? What would be the point in suing? It would cost too much to make a point that might not actually BE made.
And speaking of costs, you need to pay for more that just the lawyer's time. E.g. filing the suit costs money, so does having a stenographer at depositions, messengers cost and so do dozens of other incidentals that all add up over time. You'd better have a really good case before taking it to a lawyer.
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