FAQ's
What happens when you call my office? I usually say hello, it depends on my day, as I have been known to do a great imitation of voice mail. I will ask you whom or what you might be having an issue/problem with, I am trying to see if I have a conflict. Then I will ask you why you are calling a lawyer today.
Many people get my name from the phone book where I advertise that I am an employment lawyer. I like employment law. I am proud of my work and my abilities to help people. At best it is a situation where there was no harm intended, just a mess that needs fixing. I am a lawyer. I am not a therapist. I am not a magician. I can only help where the facts and the law allow. I want to open doors that have been shut, change resolutions that have been made and correct injustice where it sits uncorrected. That is not always possible to do but more often than not it is worth a try.
We are an employment at will state. That means employees have no rights other than the right to get paid what was earned and to see their personnel file. However and this is the big however: employees also have the right to be treated in a lawful manner. What is unlawful? If we were truly an employment at will state I would not be able to make this my chosen practice. Unlawful in any particular context depends on the facts and any particular law.
I have seen discrimination where the caller does not see it. I have seen a violation of ERISA where the caller has no clue such a law exists. I have also seen the most blatant violations of law where there is no remedy as the employer is in someway exempt. There are far more than a hundred laws out there, each has its requirements.
Above all though, I promise that I will listen. Before I do anything, the main part of my job is to listen to you. I will try to understand and I will try to help. The day I stop doing that is the day I give up all this glory and write contracts. I have made a choice to listen to you and to try as hard as I can to help you, you may not agree with me, and you always have the right to get another opinion. But I have a commitment and I will honor it. If you call me and I am not there leave me a message, I will return the call and I promise that I will listen.
