cold calls

So the other day at work I started taking employment law cold calls (people who randomly call into the firm). After a week of spending an hour on the phone each day (for free) I cut off the flow. It's amazing how many people think that just because they have been wronged in some way by another (any way), they are legally entitled to be financially compensated, and a lawyer is the key to such compensation. Well folks, in case you didn't know, the law does not provide a remedy for every wrong. In fact, it only provides remedies for a select few wrongs. I found that I was usually the first one to break the bad news to the person that they were S.O.L. "But all my friends told me I could sue his/her/its pants off!" "Are your friends lawyers?" "Okay then." (First-year law student friends are among the chief offenders).

Another thing I'm finding is that your average Joe Public has no familiarity (and is quite shocked when they find out) about the default "employment at will" law, which exists in every state I know of, and that says an employer can pretty much fire you for any reason they want unless you have a contract or are in a union and aside from discrimination on the basis of race, age, sex, national origin, religion, sexual orientation (in some states) and gender identity (in some states), or because you reported some safety violation etc.

Okay, I'll stop there at the risk of this turning into a "law blog."