Labor Lawsuits Nearly Double – in China

Layoffs, massive reductions in pay and benefits and new laws burdening and confusing employers led to a 95% increase in employment-related lawsuits from 2007 to 2008. 

Sound familiar?  

Well, sorry.  Those statistics didn’t come from the U.S. Department of Labor.  They came from the Supreme People’s Court of China, according to AFP. 

Lawsuits nearly tripled in some eastern and southern coastal cities during the period… partly due to companies taking cost-cutting measures in their struggle to pull through the financial crisis.

***

Some companies also cut jobs in response to … [a new law that] requires employers to offer open-ended contracts to employees who have worked for them for 10 years or more or have completed two fixed-term contracts. 

It also mandates companies to make larger contributions to pension and insurance funds, the China Daily said.

Finally, to really put a 95% uptick in litigation for China’s courts into perspective, note that the report says about 20 million migrant workers lost their jobs in China last year.  And that’s just factory workers. 

A DOL report from last week shows the estimated total Americans out of work is hovering around 5 million.

FirmSuit of the Day: Holland & Knight Blocks Jumps like Dikembe Mutombo

In case you missed it, this week is “well, you taught them how to sue” week at CE. Every day we’re going to feature a little nugget of law firm internal strife that’s ended up in court, and we’re kicking things off with a couple of big names: Holland and Knight.

The story [via Blog of Legal Times]: Patricia Dillman, a former Holland & Knight litigation paralegal, is suing her old firm for mucking up (read: tortiously interfering with) her imminent transfer to another global powerhouse, Hughes Hubbard. Apparently, the gigantic firm responded to Dillman’s 2-week notice by conflict-checking the paralegal’s new position against her work at H-K. When a red flag came up based on some environmental work, Holland contacted Hughes, which promptly pulled the plug on the job.

The Good Parts: Most people’s first question is what the big deal is about conflict-checking a departing employee. Well, nothing. When they’re lawyers. But Dillman was a paralegal – she wasn’t bound by the professional ethics rules that usually trip up travelling lawyers – and anyway, wall-offs are run-of-the-mill in firms the size of these two. Otherwise, no one could ever lateral. So, why did HK conflict-check her to begin with?

For the juice, keep reading.
First off, this was no ordinary paralegal. Dillman was the head of the litigation department’s support group, and her new gig was set to bag her $200k a year in Hughes’ NY office. Not the kind of person you want to let walk into another multinational firm and start shaking hands. Second, that “environmental work” she was allegedly a part of was the sinking of the oil tanker Prestige, the worst environmental disaster in the history of Spain. And her client was…well…Spain. From the BLT Article:

Spain said the [American Bureau of Shipping], which checks the structural fitness of ships, was negligent in classifying the 26-year-old vessel as fit to haul fuel. Six months after the bureau gave clearance, the Prestige became caught in a storm and Spain refused to give the ship port. The Prestige eventually split in half and sank.

So, Holland represents Spain. Hmm. [Insert joke of choice]. Anyways, guess who reps the bureau? Yep:

According to the complaint, Holland partner Brian Starer told Hughes Hubbard attorneys [representing the ABS] during a deposition in the Reino de Espana case that Holland might try to disqualify the firm from the lawsuit if Dillman began working there.

This case is a seesaw. If Dillman’s telling the truth, she was a tragic victim of an underhanded litigation strategy. If not, then does that mean Holland was justified in notifying its opponent of a non-attorney’s potential conflict? Dillman’s alleging that she did little more than copies and letter writing in the Spain suit, which puts Holland’s comments to Hughes in a bad light.

If she’s telling the truth, she’s a true tragic victim, complete with her own Shakespearean ending: a judge in New York dismissed the entire action by the Spanish government a few days ago, holding Spain has to pursue the case in its own courts.

More tomorrow.

The Job Bored: Katsup Edition

• UAW ends strike at International Truck, drops ULP charges. No, we’re not taking the heat for this one – the UAW strikes at bright lights & loud noises these days. No one with a life could keep up. [AP]

• Scandal over illegal workers and clashes with unions over Social Security overhaul ousts government’s head of labor. In Greece. Had you fooled for a minute though, right? [NYT]

• The Killers back in court on former manager’s $3 mil. unpaid commision suit. We know this just happened, but the Killers are so five minutes ago. [TMZ.com (it's a gossip website - ask your wife/daughter)]

• Writer’s Guild having trouble with Conglomerate Conglomerate, decides to just work with conglomerates for better result. [Official release, via UnitedHollywood.com] NOTE: comprehensive update on the WGA sitch to follow some time this week. I promise.