Employment Law - Intro Page Two Employlaw.com

Yes, a little non-lawyerly gimmick to get your attention and emphasize a point: Employlaw.com is NOT, and can never be, an all-encompassing self-help site. The reality is: IF YOU HAVE A SERIOUS CASE OR IF A LOT OF MONEY IS AT STAKE THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS DO-IT-YOURSELF RESOLUTION OF LEGAL PROBLEMS. No matter how much research and surfing the Net you do, you will not be able to fix a workplace problem by yourself. Put in practical terms, there is no way a layperson [that's you] can read and print out a few hundred website paragraphs [yikes, that's a lot], talk on the phone with a few lawyers [yuck] and then set about resolving an employment law dispute on your own. Why is this so?
	The Simple Part: On the surface everyone understands stories about workplace problems. People understand the facts and stories. For example, when someone says "I was at work and my supervisor called me into his office. He said I should not have taken such a long lunch break. He wrote me up." The listener of this story does not need a college degree to understand the story and possible issues. He or she knows what the story teller is saying. The listener can immediately relate what it is like to be called on the carpet and to be written up. Most people have either had a problem at work or know someone who has suffered through a workplace dispute. People can relate to and understand stories about being cheated out of wages, what illegal discrimination or harassment is all about, or the feelings one experiences when being disciplined. In other words, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand workplace problems.
	In contrast, few people can get into or understand the intricacies of complex litigation, for example, a patent/design dispute over rocket components attached to a space shuttle. [Yes, such lawsuits exist.] Imagine, if you will, your next door neighbor who is a genuine rocket scientist. How long could you stay awake while watering your plants and listening to your neighbor go into detail about how his rocket motor design was stolen by a fellow nerd rocket scientist? For sure, you would be telling him that you have something burning in the oven about three minutes into his account. If stories about workplace problems are easily understood by all of us, employment law disputes [including litigation] should be just as simple, right? Sorry, but that's not how things work.
	The complex part: While there may be predictable patterns of employer / employee behavior, history often repeats itself and the underlying facts of a workplace dispute sound similar, in employment law litigation few problems are resolved in the same manner. Employment law disputes are complex because: There may be a number of laws applicable to a case. Laws often change. Judges may interpret the same law differently depending on the judge's bias. Each case involves intricately different fact patterns. Each case has its own lawyers, judge and jury, all of whom will think differently about a case in which they are involved. In some cases lawyers are sharp as tacks, in others the parties might as well be represented by a potted plant. Contributing to this "perfect storm" of complexity is that in most employment claims the people involved are emotionally charged [both sides in a workplace dispute can get as emotional as warring couples in a messy divorce.] Flared emotions [e.g., someone taking things personal] adds a layer of unpredictable complexity to workplace dispute resolution.
	The end result is that no two cases being litigated will turn out the same. No one can "crystal ball" what will happen when attempting to resolve or remedy a workplace problem. This makes employment litigation complex even though the underlying facts and "story" related to the dispute are simple to understand.
With all this gloom why is there employlaw.com? Back in 1995 employlaw.com agreed with Al Gore that the Net was the way of the future. We saw an employment law website as a revolutionary way to help people experiencing workplace hassles. We say "revolutionary" because of how things were before the Net.
Prior to Google, Yahoo and lawyer websites, if you wanted questions answered you had to "cold call" lawyers hoping to find someone willing to take your call. Some people, such as corporate heads or management, asked friends and associates for "someone they know." But most of the time, calling for help was hit or miss. Some lawyers were not in the office. Others could not take calls. Some lawyers would not take calls because they were too busy sucking down liquid lunches or cashing checks at the bank. Alas, even if one connected with an attorney, that might not be the end of one's search for help because the lawyer might be a poor communicator, or to put it frankly, a dumb ass. As a workaround to these problems, back in the day smart laypersons [you again] might call a number of attorneys to cobble together an overview about his or her situation. Obviously this was of little help because, as they say, a little information is a dangerous thing or however that saying goes.
Understanding these realities, our goal with employlaw.com has been to 24/7 provide you with valuable information and in a manner that anyone can understand. We say "uniquely" because most lawyers love talking like a lawyer and dare not sound non-lawyerly on their websites. Anyway, since 1995-1996 employlaw.com's raison d’être was and remains to provide access to the "back room" of the justice system, to show you how it all works, at least to the point where you can feel a bit better about yourself. For me, the Net has been the mother lode for information. Whether it's checking to find out if my cat licking bleach is cause for concern to wondering how tax filing deadlines work, I have always marveled being able in the dead of night to find answers to my questions on the Net. You should read what I have posted on these pages with the goal of knowing more about employment law and workplace hassles than before accessing our Site. Perhaps after your visit you can relax a bit and get some sleep rather than pacing the floor all night in a state of anger, fear or depression.
Remember though, no website, including employlaw.com can be the miracle cure. If you think you have a case or need help, after leaving employlaw.com you need to talk things over with an employment law specialist who will explain the law, your rights, options, the choices you must make, and the perils that may exist.