The Library

I’ve been helping a few friends prep for their first oral arguments recently. It’s been a mutually beneficial exercise, because (1) it has forced me to think about what I do to prepare and why I do it, and (2) it reassured them that, if I can do this stuff, then anyone can. Looking back on those conversations, though, I realized that I’d forgotten to give my friends one of the most useful pieces of information: What they should actually bring with them to the argument. You see, if you argue enough appeals, you will eventually suffer every conceivable embarrassment […]

Employers have until the end of 2013 to take advantage of tax credits for hiring qualified veterans. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a tax credit offered private sector employers who hire individuals from certain targeted groups. These tax credits may range from between $1,200 and $9,600 per employee, depending on the target group of the new employee and the number of hours worked in the first year. Although some categories of the WOTC expired in 2012, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) extended the WOTC for hiring certain workers through December 31, 2013. ATRA extended the […]

Depressing fact of the day: The Fourth Circuit hears oral argument in about 9% of the roughly 5,000 cases it considers each year. For context, here’s the 2012 acceptance rate of each Ivy League school, according to Google: Harvard: 5.9% Yale: 6.8% Columbia: 7.4% Princeton: 8.5% Brown: 9% Dartmouth: 9.8% Penn: 12.3% Cornell: 16.2% So basically, the chance of the Fourth Circuit granting oral argument in any given case is about as good as the chance of a mid-tier Ivy granting admission to any given applicant. Only the very best, cream-of-the-crop cases evidently merit that consideration. But what does that […]

As a management employment lawyer, I am often asked to provide legal advice to a Virginia company as to a termination decision. If the company decides to terminate an employee, we typically then discuss how the decision will be communicated, including whether the company should notify the employee in writing. As a general proposition, a Virginia employer is not legally obligated to provide the employee with written notice of a termination decision. Some employers, however, prefer to do so. In addition, sometimes the employee will not be returning to the employer’s premises—in such a case, a termination letter is necessary. […]

This article, co-written by Gentry Locke attorneys Brett Marston, Spencer Wiegard, Josh Johnson, and Abigail Murchison, was published in The Construction Lawyer, Journal of the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, Volume 33 No. 3 (Summer 2013).A version of this article with a Virginia focus first appeared in 2006. See K. Brett Marston and J. Barrett Lucy, “Deal or No Deal? Clarifying Gray Areas in Construction Contracting,” Virginia Lawyer, Vol. 55, No. 3 (October 2006). >>> Viewed the published article here. Following are section headings from the article: “Let’s Make a Deal… to Make a Deal.” One of the murkiest areas of […]

Although construction lawyers pursue claims for their clients everyday, there are times when a contractor should not file a claim. A construction claim can provide a contractor with its fair compensation and most of the time pursing a valid claim is a contractor’s best course, but there are situations where it does not make good business sense – even when the claim is a strong claim. There are times when it makes more sense for a contractor to cut bait. The following list shows why it is important to be careful in thinking about claims from the beginning and throughout […]

This article appeared in the Summer/Fall 2013 issue of “Virginia Human Resources Today” magazine. In its Strategic Enforcement Plan published in December 2012, the EEOC identified 6 national priorities. One of these priorities is devoting more attention and resources to “emerging or developing” issues. The EEOC specifically identified “coverage of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals under Title VII” as an emerging issue. What does this mean for employers? Let’s start with the EEOC’s seminal decision on April 20, 2012 in Macy v. Holder. Macy applied for a position at a federal agency. The agency told Macy it intended to […]

This article, co-authored by Paul M. Mahoney, the County Attorney for Roanoke County, and Gregory J. Haley, a partner at Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore, was published in the “Journal of Local Government Law”, Vol. XXIII, No. 3, Winter 2013, a publication of the Local Government Section of the Virginia State Bar. The purpose of this article is to keep Local Government Attorneys (“LGAs”) out of trouble. Sooner or later, every LGA will have the opportunity to defend the decision of his or her local governing body in a controversial land use matter. Some land use disputes evolve unexpectedly into […]

Employee Emily files a Title VII sexual harassment charge with the EEOC, and then a lawsuit in a Virginia federal court, against ABC Company. Emily alleges that she was subjected to egregious unwelcome comments and actions of a sexual nature in the workplace by Charlie. Charlie has the title of Lead Coordinator in Emily’s department and has the authority to direct Emily’s daily work activities. However, Charlie does not have the power to hire, fire, demote, promote, transfer or discipline Emily. A critical question in determining whether ABC may be liable is whether Charlie is considered a “supervisor” under Title […]