Cyndi Nance (Arkansas) posted this article from the ABA Journal on her Facebook page (can you imagine someone reading that line ten years ago!). In any event, as far as “Where the Work Is”:
LABOR LAW
Record-high jobless rates and pro-union federal legislation may be negative news to some, but they add up to positive trends for America’s labor lawyers.
Firms specializing in labor and employment law say they’re growing busier as job losses result in cases related to wrongful termination, severance, unemployment disputes and discrimination, as well as work relating to how companies deal with labor unions.
“We’re not in hiring mode yet, but we’re taking on much more of a caseload,” says Matthew D. Austin, of counsel for Dublin, Ohio-based Mason Law Firm Co., a small shop representing privately held companies in the manufacturing, construction and grocery industries.
If passed, the Employee Free Choice Act could benefit his business, Austin says. The act would eliminate the veto power employers hold over the card-signing method of obtaining majority votes for unionizing. The push toward increased representation would bring a host of legal work.
The act “is going to pass in some form,” Austin says, adding that it will be “a major boon for what we do.”
Have to agree with Austin that EFCA is coming to us in some form soon and then there will be at least more legal work for labor and employment law attorneys.
The one thing this article fails to mention is that employee benefits/ERISA is also very hot, what with all the health insurance and pension issues out there.
Cross posted at Workplace Prof Blog.