How do I know if I need a lawyer?

While filing a suit may generally not be worth the effort, consulting with an attorney to help you evaluate your situation and develop an action plan is. Early advice can in fact prove extremely helpful in setting accurate expectations on both sides, yours and your employer's.

How do I find an attorney?

Personal referrals can make a huge difference in tapping into the right network. They speed up the process and solve several problems immediately: you'll know the attorney's reputation from whoever recommended him or her, and the employment litigator will feel some "extra" connection to you and want to help. If the person referring you is another attorney, even better.

There's nothing like peer recognition, but be careful not to fall into someone's lap because the attorney is your best friend's uncle. Even if you start with a general practice attorney, probably an attorney who specializes in employment litigation will ultimately know best how to proceed.

If you have enough time but limited money, state and county bar associations listed in the phone book as "State Bar of Minnesota" or "the County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service" are a good place to start. State and county bar association referrals can be excellent, initial, cost-effective options if you have the luxury of time and just want to be educated in the "what ifs." However, when the stress is high and events are changing rapidly, this option can have its limitations. While the initial consultation fee may be nominal, perhaps $50 or $100 versus the $150 or $200 of a well-known employment litigation specialist, the timing here may be too slow if you're being pressed.

You won't know until you meet this attorney (or any attorney) for the first time whether your case has merit or whether you and the attorney will be able to work well together. Nor will the state or county bar provide the referral attorney's reputation or track record in litigating employment matters. The referral is based on who is coming up next on "rotation" within the discipline you require.

How much do employment lawyers charge?

Contingency relationships vs. hourly billing

If you live in a major metropolitan area, expect to spend anywhere from $150 to $300 for your first meeting with an attorney. You may be frightened to spend money just when you're losing your job, but this step is critical to what happens next. When you meet, ask whether the fees include everything or whether you also pay for secretarial services, copying, and postage. This is usually part of the routine.

Remember that attorneys are not just for suing -- but for advice. You may simply need someone to bounce ideas off or to explain the tax – and other - implications of any settlement your employer might be offering. If you’re paid a settlement as “damages for emotional distress,” this can have a different tax treatment than a settlement paid to you as regular wages.

Legal Relationships/Contingency

In contingency relationships, you usually pay an initial consultation fee, anywhere from $100 to $250, plus perhaps a retainer for proceeding with further work on your behalf. (You will probably also be paying administrative charges for mailing, faxes, secretarial help, etc., which are billed and due monthly.) At the end of your negotiation with the employer, your lawyer ultimately shares in the outcome. Should you be successful, be prepared to split the spoils 30/70, 40/60, or 50/50 between the law firm and yourself. The final percentage will often depend on whether you put up any "up-front" moneys in return for the attorney's accepting the case or whether the entire matter has been handled on a contingency basis alone. It is also possible to structure a relationship where the lawyer's fee is a percentage of the difference between the settlement originally offered to you and what you ultimately receive -- plus expenses, of course.

Be aware too that percentages or "splits" between you and your attorney vary according to the stage at which your case is settled. If your case ‘settles” before the beginning of final trial preparation, the attorney might receive 35 percent of your “net” recovery. (Net means the amount remaining after subtracting out all the costs and expenses.) If your claim is settled after the beginning of final trial preparation through the end of the trial, then the percentage to the attorney might be 40 percent. These are percentages can vary greatly depending on geography and on what you have specifically negotiated with your particular attorney.

If your case actually goes to trial, you must also be prepared to pay for depositions and other court costs whether the relationship with your attorney is on a contingency or hourly basis. As you might imagine, these can amount to thousands of dollars -- even in relatively small cases -- which often makes pursuing legal action prohibitively expensive.

Legal Relationships/Hourly

This is self-explanatory. You will be billed at perhaps $85 to $150 or more per hour for each hour the attorney works on your case. Expect to pay more if you’re in a major city and if a principal, rather than a younger associate, or paralegal, is doing your work. Again, there are extra costs for faxes, mailings, photocopying, word-processing, research, depositions, telephone and travel expenses, and so on. In the hourly option, you take more of the risk. If you win, you usually keep more of the end result.

What result can I expect?

Reputable, successful employment law firms with four partners might receive 2500 calls a year or more from employees seeking advice on terminations and layoffs. But of these, perhaps only 15% might become actual cases. The reason is simple: no matter how nice your lawyer or how egregious your case, if it has no real merit and your employer doesn’t have pockets deep enough to pay a large settlement, the law firm won’t be interested in taking on your case. Remember, lawyers and law firms, however sympathetic, are in business to make money and even if you’ve been slugged in the face by your boss at a non-profit or a tiny start-up, their lack of deep pockets might make the case totally uninteresting to any law firm whatsoever!

Second, perhaps half of all cases invited to come in to the office, require just one consultation and no further follow-up. Of the remaining fifty percent, many will settle in pre-trial negotiation, with a severance package ultimately no higher than the former employee was offered originally, after all of the expenses have been deducted. Only a very few cases actually go to trial and a very tiny percentage of employees prevail. What documentation do I need to bring with me?

    Your compensation history
    Your complete personnel file
    Your resume: old and/or current version
    Job description of the positions you held with the employer
before termination
    Written performance evaluation(s) of your work; commendations,
awards, warnings
    Written documentation or notice concerning your termination and the
events leading to it
    Any releases or other documents signed by you, or given to you, at the time
of termination concerning your termination or severance package
    Employee handbooks, personnel/human resources guidelines or
regulations regarding performance evaluations, progressive discipline, pay
raises, or termination
    Company guidelines or handbooks regarding company benefits such as
vacation, insurance, retirement, pension plan/profit-sharing,
stock options, severance pay
    Any documents pertinent to company-wide layoffs, firing policies, etc.
    Documentation or correspondence from any agency with whom you have filed a claim or complaint in connection with your termination, including:

    Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
    Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH)
    Any unions
    Unemployment Appeals Board
    Workers Compensation Appeals Board