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EEOC Sends Strong Message to the Legal Community (or The Story of 32 Aging Baby Boomers)

When major law firms pay large discrimination settlements, people should sit up and take notice. So, go ahead and sit up:

In early October, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reached a $27.5 million settlement on behalf of 32 former Sidley Austin Brown & Wood attorneys in an age discrimination lawsuit. EEOC v. Sidley Austin LLP, N.D. Ill., No. 05 C 0208, October 4, 2007. The settlement resolved claims by the former partners, challenging their demotion or termination in connection with a 1999 firm restructuring. The partners also challenged the firm's mandatory retirement policy.

This case reflects the EEOC's renewed focus on systemic discrimination cases. In a March 2006 report, the agency revealed an increased commitment to these cases.
http://www.eeoc.gov/abouteeoc/task_reports/systemic.html
While most of the agency's 80,000 charges filed annually are individual charges, agency employees may decide to pursue systemic issues when an individual charge is under investigation.

What does this mean for employers? Employers should review their workplace policies and practices regarding employment decisions (hiring, firing, compensation, demotion and promotion). Among other things, employers should consider:

• the criteria used for such decisions;
• whether the decision maker is an individual or a panel; and,
• whether a structure exists to monitor the handling of complaints regarding the decision.

For more information, contact Marlissa Briggett.

Massachusetts Litigators Must Have a Copy of the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence

Our quirky Commonwealth still does not have a unified set of rules of evidence, but a Supreme Judicial Court Advisory Committee has issued a draft set of "Guidelines" - 229 pages plus a 27-page word index. The Guidelines are organized to parallel the Federal Rules of Evidence. You can download a copy on line here:
http://www.mass.gov/courts/sjc/prop-evidenceguide.html

The Committee has solicited public comments, which can be submitted through December 5, 2007, after which the draft will be edited and sent to the SJC for approval. Even in draft form, this is a mandatory document for Massachusetts litigators, as it collects the black-letter law of evidence in Massachusetts. It can doubtless be cited with some authority even in draft form, and there is little question that the SJC will adopt some iteration of this document.

Winning at Trial,
D. Shane Read (NITA 2007, $75.00).

Winning at Trial is one of the most recent offerings from NITA, and is notable for including two DVDs showing a series of clips from the O.J. Simpson criminal trial. The text then poses questions to the reader about what the lawyers did right or wrong in those clips. The text also takes examples from the trial of Timothy McVeigh.

Read also sharply disagrees with some of the advice found in Thomas Mauet's Trial Techniques, which is a standard text used in many law school trial advocacy programs. For example, Read criticizes Mauet's cautious approach to opening statements and cross examination.

Overall, Read's book is not OCM's favorite trial practice text, but it offers some useful ideas and helpful checklists. A worthy addition to the trial lawyer's bookshelf, but by no means indispensable.