Most people will spend a third of their lives sleeping. In the same way, incredible as it may seem, another third will be spent on work. Unpleasant, but true: For most of us, a third of our adult lives will be spent furthering our employer’s goals, which may or may not align with our own personal goals. Particularly if you’re a long-term employee, when your work situation turns unpleasant (for reasons of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, or pay issues), you may find yourself unusually upset, confused, and feeling strangely “off-balance.” If you think of a job as a kind of marriage, it’s not surprising that turmoil at work can cause disruptions to your sense of well-being.

If you’re currently dissatisfied with your job, have recently quit, or been fired, that’s by no means unusual. According to a US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average length of employment fell from 9.2 years in 1983 to 4.1 years in 2008. A 2010 Metlife survey showed that about two in three employees plan to leave their job at the end of the year, or would quit if something better came along. A Wharton School of Economics professor suggests that this concern is actually explained by a 30-year trend in which employers have increasingly valued profit over loyalty to their employees, and have come to regard each employees as expendable again. Employee lawsuits have also become common. In California alone, charges of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation filed by the EEOC by employees increased nearly 12% between 2009 and 2012, from 6,654 charges filed to 7,399.

Very few lawsuits that are filed make it to trial, and of those that do go to trial, most plaintiffs don’t do as well as they hoped, with verdicts typically ranging from $10,000 to $99,000, not exactly a windfall. .

In short, there seems to be less loyalty on both sides of the employment equation, employment terms are getting shorter, more anti-discrimination laws are being filed, but 99% of them won’t go to trial. Those cases that end up in a courtroom usually get small verdicts.

With that in mind, what should you look for in an employment attorney? Here is a list of eight topics to consider for your first interview.

ISSUES TO RAISE (OR NOT) WITH YOUR POTENTIAL LAWYER

1.) How well do you communicate? You don’t need your attorney to be your therapist, but you probably want someone who is easy to talk to (or has someone in your office to fill that role), easy to contact by phone, email, or text, and who will report regularly on what is happening with your case. It is probably unreasonable to expect your lawyer to contact you every day, but once every two weeks is probably reasonable in long-term representation, unless there is a lot of activity, in which case you may hear from him. or her, or an assistant, a couple of times in a week. Find someone who is computer and text literate.

2.) Use of Private Detective. A good investigator can dramatically increase the value of an employment case. An authorized and competent investigator will use computer database searches and personal interviews (by phone and in person) to obtain information about the individuals involved in the dispute. Ask your potential new lawyer if he uses an investigator and when that person will be brought on the case. The sooner the better. By the time the Complaint is filed, you don’t want any surprises.

3.) Full disclosure. Relationships are built on trust, including your relationship with your attorney. He/she needs to know that he/she has reported everything that is potentially relevant accurately and completely. So, for example, if your prospective attorney asks if you’ve ever been convicted of a crime, and have, say so; if her case is strong, she will not be shown the door. If you have other legal issues, bring them up early. Do not wait until your deposition is about to be taken. Don’t think that secrets from your past won’t come out in a legal dispute because they probably will, and if you haven’t disclosed them to your attorney beforehand, you’ll lose control of their impact. You want your potential lawyer to know all the “dirt” about you before anyone else, so you can work with the facts, not against them. The same goes for bankruptcies, other lawsuits, arrests, undocumented worker status, and other employment issues with former employers. Your attorney cannot fully help you unless you fully disclose it. Conversely, if your potential attorney doesn’t ask probing questions about your past, that could be a sign that he or she isn’t a good fit for your needs.

4.) Try to settle early or litigate? There are excellent employment attorneys whose practice is to litigate first and settle later. There are good employment lawyers whose practice is to try to settle first, litigate later. Both practices have their advantages and disadvantages, the subject of a much longer article that would discuss the potential financial benefits of litigation versus the emotional cost. I think both practices are appropriate, depending on the facts and depending on who you are. Litigation is unpleasant for everyone. You may feel that you are so emotionally battered that you don’t want to fight anymore; you just want resolution. Or you may have clear and deep fantasies of seeing your adversary in a courtroom. Whichever path you prefer, there is a lawyer for you. My only point here is that you should ask your potential attorney what percentage of their practice emphasizes early resolution (before a lawsuit is filed) versus litigation. In fact, it may be to your advantage to ask an experienced trial attorney to attempt an early resolution of your case, because if he or she is well known in your area, they are also known to not be afraid of a fight.

5.) Reasonable Contingency Fee. Practices vary, of course, but it’s common for an employment lawyer to charge a contingency fee, which is a percentage of your case if it settles, and nothing if your case never settles. It is also common for employment lawyers to charge 40% of the gross recovery and take that fee “off the top” – that is, before any other amounts are deducted. Costs are usually reduced after the rate is calculated. That can also be negotiated. Apart from the representation of minors, for which the percentage of fees must be approved by a court, the percentage of attorneys’ fees can be freely negotiated between the parties. For pre-litigation (the time before a lawsuit is filed), a 40% fee is excessive in my opinion. Before a lawsuit is filed, I advise you to ask the lawyer if he will accept 1/3 (33 1/3%) if your case is resolved before your Complaint is filed.

6.) Ask about their strengths and weaknesses. Take “do I have a case?” Take it a step further by asking your prospective attorney, “As you see it, based on what I’ve told you so far, what do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of my case?” Both you and he/she should start practicing early on to develop the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of your case. And each case has weaknesses. Your employer may be on the verge of bankruptcy. You may have received two years of questionable performance reviews that cannot be linked to a retaliation claim. Your employer may have received another complaint about the person you are complaining about. You may have quit and never said anything about being harassed. All of these are potential events that will affect the strength or weakness of your case. So ask from the beginning: “Tell me the truth. What is right and what is wrong here?”

7.) Go Armed for Bear. If you really want to impress his prospective lawyer, bring to the meeting a list of the people who have agreed to talk to him or her about what happened to you at work, along with her phone numbers. Insightful witnesses, as these people are called, are invaluable to a case. Anyone who can corroborate what you state is helpful. Anyone who has had an experience very similar to yours with that particular co-worker, supervisor, or employer is a plus.

8. Don’t ask “How much is my case worth?” A good lawyer won’t tell you. An experienced lawyer cannot tell from the first meeting how much his case is worth, and you put him in a difficult position by asking. I had a case in my office several years ago that initially appeared to have a settlement value of around one hundred thousand dollars; and it was settled for nearly four million dollars two years later, after all the egregious facts came out. On the other hand, I’ve had cases that I initially thought were worth seven figures and their value dropped as the facts emerged. The value is subjective and depends on the facts. So if you’re asking how much your case is worth, your prospective attorney might honestly answer something like “It depends!”