Due to having 4 federal cases, 2 state cases & 3 union negotiations & related labor-management matters ongoing at the same time & most nearing some form of resolution, my posting this Spring & Summer has been sporadic.

On the other hand, union activity seems to be increasing among small businesses in the private sector.  I’m not sure if this is due unions’ believing that desperate times call for desperate measures, or if it’s because management is intensifying efforts to combat union activity because of the high & rising pension & healthcare costs associated with union collective bargaining agreements. Nevertheless, there’s been a definite increase in union activity among private sector small businesses. As troubling as this is for business, this has been great for the government (justifies regulatory jobs) & practitioners like me.

Moreover, it’s worthwhile to note that for the first time in U.S. history, the number of unionized employees in the public sector now exceeds the number of unionized employees in the private sector. Glad to see that government employees are protected from the abuses of their employers (us).

Furthermore, I’ve seen an increase in self-represented employees and former employees filing lawsuits & other charges against businesses. Again, when the economy is bad, and people are desperate, they’ll do what they have to do to make ends meet, with or without legal representation.

For more information about what’s happening in labor & employment law & human resources, check out my LinkedIn group, Charles Krugel’s Labor & Employment Law & Human Resources Practices Group.

My posting will be sporadic and sparse during the Spring & Summer months. There’s a convergence of the completion of 4 court cases (2 federal & 2 state), two union negotiations and other client matters (policy & practice audits, contract drafting, etc.). Should be great summer reading.

Seminar handout from my presentation on 5/12/10 for BNC’s Entrepreneur’s Committee. Just click on the hyperlink HERE–Handout is 21 pages and in PDF format.

On Wednesday, April 21, 2010, from noon until 1:30PM, I’ll be presenting the labor & employment law primer at the Business Connections Luncheon – Best Practices Part 1 for the Lake Zurich Chamber of Commerce & SCORE (Service Core of Retired Executives; www.scorechicago.org).  The presentation format will be largely Q & A with handouts provided.  It’s at Vehe Barn, 23570 Cuba Rd., Deer Park, IL.  For more information visit http://www.lzacc.com/events_calendar.html; to register contact Dale Perrin at 847.438.5572.

On Tuesday, April 27, 2010, from 6PM to 8PM, I’ll be presenting a labor & employment law seminar for the Lake/McHenry Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), http://nawic368.org/.  It’s at the Cubby Bear North in Lincolnshire at 21661 Milwaukee Ave.  This presentation is co-sponsored by NAWIC & SCORE.  Registration information is available via Evite here.

On Wednesday, May 12th, from 8:30AM until 11AM, I’ll be part of a panel presentation for Business Network Chicago’s Entrepreneur’s Committee concerning hiring issues for startups and small businesses.  For more information, please contact Susan Barahia at sbarahia@bnchicago.org or 312-371-3786, or check out BNC’s website at http://www.bnchicago.org/index.php.  It’s at Wells Fargo Advisors, 222 S. Riverside Plaza (Adams & Canal), Chicago, 3rd Floor.

On Friday, May 14th at 9:30am, at Chicago’s City Hall, #805, 121 N. LaSalle St., I’ll be presenting a free labor & employment law seminar. Thanks to the City of Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs for setting this up.  This will be largely Q&A & open discussion along with handouts.  If you would like to attend, please contact Alfredo Camarena at 312-744-5344 or alfredo.camarena@cityofchicago.org.

In March, I was elected to the Lakeside Community Committee’s Board of Directors.  For the past 44 years, Chicago’s Lakeside Community Committee, has been committed to facilitating quality foster care and related services for needy children; reuniting biological parents and their children;  and strengthening the social and economic base of Chicago’s Grand Crossing neighborhood and surrounding communities.  Currently, the LCC has about 60 staff members servicing more than 250 children and families.  I remain Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of the Government Affairs Team for the Greater O’Hare Association, one of Chicagoland’s largest business associations; board member for the The Chicago Bar Foundation’s Young Professionals Board; Board Chair for the YMCA Alliance, the adult education and workforce development arm of the YMCAs of Chicago; and Board Member for ChildServ, a 115 year old child advocacy and children’s group home organization.

Starting in March, I became a regular contributor to Slate.com’s small business blog BizBox.  Slate’s BizBox, is sponsored by OPEN from American Express, and serves as a clearinghouse for the latest news, analysis and advice for entrepreneurs and small business people.  Obviously, my contributions relate to labor & employment law & HR management.  I’m part of a panel of four professionals writing on issues affecting small businesses.  Thank to Jerry Kalish of National Benefit Services Inc. for setting this up.  The panel includes Jerry, who works with business owners who want to put more money away for retirement, and companies who want a state-of-the-art retirement program; Chris Cooper, a Program Coordinator at the Small Business Succession Planning Program and The Ohio Employee Ownership Center at Kent State University; and Susan A. Berson, a partner in The Banking & Tax Law Group LLP, www.banktaxlaw.com.

On the heels of my most recent Avvo post, over the past week, I received the following communications from an attorney who wishes to remain anonymous and who has had his own difficulties with Avvo’s bizarre rating and registration system.  My chief criticism, and why I primarily think it’s a scam, is because you can’t cancel your membership/registration (which is utterly ridiculous), and it’s a system which is biased against solo practitioners and small firms because of the amount of time and labor it takes to complete a profile.

Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 5:33 PM

I would like to provide you with information on AVVO to update your blog.

I just rated a lawyer who did wonderful work for me and the rating was declined as not acceptable under AVVO’s “community standards.”  My clients have tried to rate me and their rating[s] have been declined.

AVVO gave me 1 star without knowing anything about me except that I had been disciplined for political activities during the farm crisis in 1986.  The discipline originated in Timbuktu and Xanadu was required to reciprocate.  The discipline in Timbuktu is over 20 years old, longer than either Mark Britton, AVVO’s founder, and Joshua King, AVVO’s in-house counsel, have even been practicing law.

I am attaching my CV for your information.

I look forward to sharing my research into AVVO with you. This organization claimed freedom of speech to avoid a damages claim at its inception.  There is now overwhelming information that AVVO libels lawyers and its secret “community standards”  prevent client ratings.  The ratings of Britton and King are from cronies.  These men have never litigated a single case as far as I can tell.

Thank you for assisting in the exposure of this scam organization.

Anonymous

P.S.  I have a telephone conference scheduled with AVVO’s general counsel Joshua King next week.  I refused to even talk to customer service.  I will keep you advised.

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 11:58 AM

I will be talking AVVO’s general counsel, Joshua King, tomorrow.  He is rated by his own company as 10:  Superb.  I will send you a complete posting for your blog after that.  You have my permission to post my recent e-mail to your blog and I would like to send you another posting after the discussions with Joshua King.  I am forwarding an e-mail discussion with one of my clients, who is a paralegal and an IRS-EA.  You might find it interesting.  I have deleted her name from the correspondence.

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 12:05 PM

Thanks so much, XXX!  Yours is one of 8 known reviews that was actually accepted by the system.  Most were rejected due to their internal “community standards” which are amazingly vague.  You will love this.  AVVO claims to be subjective, but the system rejects client ratings that are not objective.  They won class action lawsuit early in their existence claiming First Amendment rights because the federal court judge gave them a pass on being “subjective” and expressing their “opinion.”  Now, let’s get this straight:  they are “subjective” but client ratings must be “objective.”

Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 2:45 PM

My legal assistant listened to the telephone conference between me and Attorney Joshua King and myself today.  He is also a computer programming expert and knows how algorithms are created.  It appears that Mr. King and Attorney Mark Britton created the algorithm based upon how they would rate themselves.  Please note that Mr. King is rated 10 and Mr. Britton is rated 9.5 on their subjective rating system’s algorithm.

Many fascinating admissions were made by Attorney King.   Suffice it to say for now that AVVO started out with a subjective rating system.  This was admitted in a U.S. District Court action in the Western District of Washington. See complete decision on link:
http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/washington/wawdce/2:2007cv00920/144356/18/0.html.

Attorneys King and Britton imposed their subjective system on all other attorneys objectively.  Some of what Mr. King told me is outright hilarious.  He certainly does not deserve his self-created rating of 10.  Among other things, his admissions clearly demonstrate both fraud and reckless disregard for the truth.

Anonymous