It is unfortunately for me to see how many companies-employer fall victims to bad legal advice, whether it's a result of intentional misleading or lack of knowledge of employment law on the side of the defense attorneys. 

Here is a typical scenario. A company gets sued for discrimination, harassment, retaliation or wrongful termination. They refer the case to their defense counsel who might be a very experienced employment lawyer or an attorney who doesn't know much about the specific area of employment law.  

The lawyers who are competent in employment law will be able to tell right away whether the lawsuit has merit, and yet they will still advise their client - the employer - against settling the claims early, as these attorneys are being paid for their services hourly and thus are interested in billing at least a certain minimum amount of hours before they let the case go. An honest, ethical firm will act in the best interest of its client, as it should, and will urge their client to settle, rather than litigate the case, pay attorneys fees, and be potentially liable for a trial verdict in favor of employee and for employee counsel's attorneys fees. 

The lawyers who do not know much about employment law won't even be able to evaluate the case properly and decide whether it should be settled early rather than litigated. Thus, many of those lawyers, governed again by the desire to bill a certain number of hours before they settle, will still move forward and defend the case even when the liability is clear, potentially exposing their client to a much greater loss, including punitive damages and the opposing party's attorneys fees.

 


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