Labor & Employment

Meet 11 ABA members who inspired us in 2024

In this year’s Members Who Inspire series, the ABA Journal featured 11 outstanding ABA members who brighten the world around them.

Dec 20, 2024 2:12 PM CST

Muslim lawyer can’t sue over revoked BigLaw job offer based on this theory, federal judge rules

A federal judge in Chicago has tossed a promissory estoppel claim in a Muslim lawyer’s lawsuit against Foley & Lardner for revoking her associate job offer after learning of her comments about Israel and Gaza.

Dec 4, 2024 12:23 PM CST

Kalpana Kotagal’s inclusion riders promote equality in the entertainment industry

Nearly seven years ago, Frances McDormand ended her acceptance speech at the Oscars with, “I have two words to leave with you tonight, ladies and gentlemen: inclusion rider.” Kalpana Kotagal, a civil rights and employment attorney and a creator of the inclusion rider, had no idea McDormand would mention it. “I had gone to sleep,” says Kotagal. “I had no idea any of that had happened and woke up the next morning to just, like, chaos.”

Dec 1, 2024 12:40 AM CST

Law students are more diverse, face more debt than 20 years ago, new study says

Compared to 20 years ago, law students today are a more diverse group and more face student debt despite their career goals staying about the same, according to new research from Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research.

Nov 22, 2024 1:32 PM CST

Law firm profitability is at near-record high, new report says

Law firm financials have improved for seven consecutive quarters, leading to a profitability score that is the second highest on record for the Law Firm Financial Index since its inception more than 15 years ago.

Nov 11, 2024 12:02 PM CST

Judge who allowed secretary to work remotely didn’t violate ethics rules, state supreme court says

The New Jersey Supreme Court has tossed a pending ethics complaint against a judge who sometimes allowed his secretary to work remotely in violation of office policy.

Oct 29, 2024 8:45 AM CDT

Judge suspended without pay after indictment for alleged fake layoffs

A common pleas judge in York County, Pennsylvania, has been suspended without pay following his indictment for allegedly urging four law firm employees to collect unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic while continuing to work from home.

Oct 15, 2024 9:10 AM CDT

Supreme Court is ‘dour and diligent’ as it debates ‘potential sleeper case;’ are arguments ‘abusive’?

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday appeared “dour and diligent” as it considered exhaustion requirements in lawsuits for constitutional violations, according to an article in the New York Times.

Oct 8, 2024 10:34 AM CDT

Money and litigation tangle with recent rules for college athletes’ NIL deals

Student-athletes, colleges and private collectives are facing legal complexities in the race to sign up star players with promises of lucrative name, image and likeness agreements.

Oct 1, 2024 1:20 AM CDT

Suit alleging Jones Day’s family-leave policy discriminates against men can go to trial, judge rules

A federal judge has ruled that two former associates at Jones Day can go to trial on seven claims against the law firm, including allegations that its family-leave policy discriminates against male attorneys.

Sep 26, 2024 10:52 AM CDT

Straight white woman can’t sue over BigLaw diversity fellowship because she didn’t apply, motion says

A former law student has no standing to sue over King & Spalding’s summer associate diversity fellowship because she never applied for the position, the law firm has said in a Sept. 19 motion to dismiss.

Sep 23, 2024 3:05 PM CDT

School district’s ‘equity training’ didn’t constitute First Amendment injury, appeals court says

A public school district can’t be sued for violating the First Amendment rights of two employees who stopped speaking or pretended to agree with presenters during required “equity training,” a federal appeals court has ruled.

Sep 17, 2024 12:24 PM CDT

It’s ‘past time to proceed to the merits’ in fired BigLaw associate’s bias case, judge says

A federal judge in California last week refused to toss an amended gender-bias and retaliation lawsuit filed against Kirkland & Ellis by a fired associate, saying “it is past time to proceed to the merits.”

Sep 16, 2024 12:26 PM CDT

St. Thomas College of Law reinstates fired tenured professor, will start termination hearings

Updated: After firing a tenured professor in July, the St. Thomas University Benjamin L. Crump College of Law has reinstated her for the purpose of formally terminating her via the due process rights spelled out in the faculty handbook.

Aug 29, 2024 10:22 AM CDT

Prosecutors and public defenders strike for higher pay in this California county

Public defenders and prosecutors are among about 250 government attorneys who went on strike Monday in California’s Sacramento County following two years without a contract.

Aug 27, 2024 12:31 PM CDT