News
Economic Recovery Around the Bend?
The signs of recovery (or at least a bottoming out) are there. The US economy shrank just 1% between April and July of 2009, after shrinking at a torrid 6.4% pace in the first quarter.
Read More2009 Federal Minimum Wage Increases to $7.25
On July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage increased from $6.55 an hour to $7.25 an hour. According to NPR’s “Your Gains, Losses in Minimum Wage Hike”, the roughly 5 million wage earners who make less than $7.25 an hour will see an immediate benefit, as likely will another approximately 10.5 million wage earners above…
Read MoreDept. of Labor Fails to Protect Workers: “We have a crisis in wage theft” (2026)
Is your boss ripping you off by refusing to pay you overtime? Forcing you to work off the clock? Not letting you take meal or rest breaks? If so, you might want to think twice about calling up the U.S. Department of Labor to lodge a complaint. According to a recent GAO report, it will…
Read More“Change” is Coming to the Federal Courts – Obama-style
With a Democrat about to enter the White House for the first time in 8 years and with a Democratic-majority firmly in control of Congress, the conservative Federal judiciary is about to come face-to-face with the C-word – and in a big way.
Read More‘Desk Rage’ on the Rise
If you thought ‘road rage’ was a problem, make way for ‘desk rage’. According to this Reuters report, “Desk rage spoils workplace for many Americans” , anger in the workplace is on the rise. And it isn’t just about ‘going postal’. The article contains some startling statistics – of the workers who responded to research…
Read MoreRespected Judge Posts Sex Images Online
As you may know, California falls within the jurisdiction of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the chief judge of that court is one Alex Kozinski. A brilliant jurist, he was first appointed to the Court by Reagan at the tender age of 35, making him the youngest federal appeals
Read MoreShocker – U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Employees!
The U.S. Supreme Court has been decidedly anti-employee and pro-employer ever since Dubya-appointed Justices Roberts and Alito joined the bench. The Supreme Court’s infamous and awful Ledbetter v Goodyear ruling (and Congress’s voting down of the law intended to overturn Ledbetter) seemed to be clarion call
Read MoreA Judge Is (Finally) Forced to Step Down
A little while ago, I posted about Judge James Brooks. He had engaged in shenanigans that turned a trial into a circus and humiliated Michelle Reinglass, one of the leading plaintiff-side trial lawyers in California. Well Judge Brooks has finally gotten what was coming to him.
Read More'If you've got a job, hang on to it'
It looks like the proverbial bullpucky is hitting the economic fan. According to an Associate Press news article, Huge Job Losses Set Off Recession Alarms, the U.S. economy lost almost a quarter million jobs in the first three months of 2008 alone. That’s a staggering rate.
Read MoreVoir Dire in Other Parts of the Country
It looks like I’m in a “jury duty” state of mind today. Here’s a second interesting post regarding juries, this time the process of selecting a jury. Just to set the context up, some lawyers believe it is important to have as much time as necessary to conduct voir dire (a fancy way of saying…
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