Posts tagged Virginia Legal News

• Age Discrimination Protection-the ADEA

  Michael Phelan | February 18, 2008 8:37 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Age discrimination is a hot topic these days, with several cases pending for decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects employees age 40 and older from discrimination in employment based on age. Age discrimination can include discrimination in hiring, promotion, pay, benefits, and discharge. The Act also protects against retaliation for...

• Contingency Fee Commercial Litigation

  Michael Phelan | February 04, 2008 10:10 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA Category: Miscellaneous
  

  For generations, the hourly billing business model for law firms has forced plaintiffs involved in commercial litigation to pay attorneys by the hour regardless of the outcome of the litigation. A better business model for plaintiffs seeking to hire counsel to initiate business litigation may involve contingency fees, fixed legal fee pricing or a combination of a diminished hourly rate and a...

• Collective Wage and Hour Claims for Pharma Sales Reps

  Michael Phelan | February 03, 2008 10:07 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA Category: Workplace Injuries
  

  A number of pharmaceutical companies, including Roache Laboratories, Inc., Abbot Laboratories, Inc., Eli Lilly & Co., Pfizer, Inc., Merck & Co. Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline Plc, are facing wage-and-hour suits filed on behalf of their sales representatives. Our firm recently filed such a case against Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc. claiming the company failed to pay hundreds of sales representatives...

• Butler Williams Wins Important Unpaid Overtime Decision

  Michael Phelan | January 31, 2008 9:15 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA Category: Workplace Injuries
  

  We are pleased to report that, today, our law firm received a favorable Fourth Circuit Court ruling for a client establishing a claim for a company's retaliation against former employees who claim unpaid overtime compensation. The controlling law which requires the payment of overtime for all hours worked over 40 per week, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), contains separate retaliation...

• Lockhead to Pay for Racial Discrimination

  Michael Phelan | January 07, 2008 10:47 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Lockheed Martin Corporation has agreed to pay a former African American employee $2.5 million to settle a racial discrimination case filed by the U.S. Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission. The former employee, a 45 year old aviation electrician, said he was called racial slurs and threatened by four co-workers and a supervisor between 1999 and 2001. When he complained about how the...

• Frivolous Tales About Lawsuits

  Michael Phelan | November 26, 2007 4:35 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA Category: Miscellaneous
  

  The Seventh amendment to the Constitution of the United States says, "In suits at common law...the right to trial by jury shall be preserved." This right has been under attack by so-called tort reformers who want to preserve the right to trial for corporations while restricting it for citizens. One tactic of the tort reform movement has been to devise talking points to scare the public about...

• Sen. Clinton addresses Lead Poisoning Crisis

  Michael Phelan | October 31, 2007 1:04 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA Category: Head & Brain Injuries
  

  As part of National Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, Senator Hillary Clinton today introduced legislation to improve coordination among federal, state and local government agencies, update standards for pre-lease or sale inspections required by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and establish pilot projects to target areas of high incidence of lead poisoning in...

• Insurers Cheat Victims-Record Highest Profits Ever

  Michael Phelan | October 17, 2007 6:00 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA Category: Automobile Accidents
  

  Anyone who believes the propaganda from the insurance industry and US Chamber of Commerce about trial lawyers driving insurers out of business should read the excellent article posted October 15 on SunHerald.com about home insurers cheating victims while recording record profits. This article shows that the tort reform movement is a fraud. Even in the wake of Hurricane Katrina,...

• How to Save Hundreds of Dollars on Auto Insurance

  Michael Phelan | September 17, 2007 9:16 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Thanks to a tip from fellow injuryboard blogger, Ben Glass, I recently contacted my automobile insurer to report that my eldest child matriculated from his high school and is now attending college. When our auto insurer learned that my son would not have a car on campus, it lowered our annual premiums by almost $700.00. My son is still an insured driver on our policy, but the carrier now deems...

• Don't Buy Chinese-Made Products

  Michael Phelan | June 26, 2007 11:15 AM | 1 CommentRichmond, VA Category: Defective & Dangerous Products
  

  I favor free-trade and don't consider myself to be an isolationist, but enough is enough. First we learn that Chinese-made ingredients in pet food are killing our pets. Next we learn that Chinese-made toothpaste is toxic. Recently, we learned that Thomas the Tank Engine toy trains contain enough lead paint to cause permanent brain damage to toddlers who might chew on the toys. Now, the...