Author: JGL Law

On Tuesday July 17^th, Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation’s Innovation Station hosted an informative event for businesses going through transition. Called “Planning Your Exit Strategy,” this free event featured special guest speaker Robert Sammis, President and CEO of Business Transition Advisors. JGL was pleased to attend the event and work with Robert Sammis to assist business owners understand succession and exit strategy planning. Robert’s seminar addressed the necessity of planning succession early in the business process as well as share best practices and valuable tips that will help attendants when its time to retire or step down from their company.

The seminar occurred as part of a series of events proposed by the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation (EDC). As part of its commitment to serving the greater community, JGL works hand-in-hand with groups like the EDC and individual community members like Robert Sammis to provide high-quality legal counsel.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s recent nomination to the Supreme Court has brought to light his track record of voting in favor of business interests, leaving many worker advocates worried about a potential confirmation. Erin Mulvaney of Law.com reached out to the legal community for their thoughts, questions and predictions of the Supreme Court should Kavanaugh be appointed to the court. Joseph Greenwald & Laake principal Brian Markovitz was included in this conversation.

If given the opportunity to ask Kavanaugh a question during his confirmation hearing, Markovitz said an important question would be whether the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a proper exercise of the commerce clause, because it was “a controversial decision.” “They were trying to end discrimination but there were roadblocks from private companies to get them to do it,” Markovitz said. “From reading his opinion, he seems to want to bring us back to the 1950s.”

Markovitz also predicted that Kavanaugh’s confirmation would likely push the Supreme Court to being an even more political, wholly pro-business court, protecting the employers over employees. He predicted that Kavanaugh’s arrival at the Supreme Court would continue a trend of 5-4 rulings.

“That’s the real travesty of this situation,” Markovitz said. “There was one point in time where the court . . . based decisions on judicial scholarship and thought. Now, it’s almost full politics.”

To read the full article, click on the law.com logo below. 

Brian Markovitz is a principal in JGL’s Labor and Employment and Civil Litigation practice groups, and focuses on helping victims who have suffered severe injustices in the workplace. He represents individuals in complex employment litigation and appellate matters involving wrongful termination, retaliation by employers in response to reporting fraud or misconduct and discrimination on the basis on race, gender, age and sexual orientation.

 

While Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s recent nomination to the Supreme Court has pleased advocates for business interests, advocates for employees have worried that he will damage crucial workers’ rights. Joseph Greenwald & Laake principal Brian Markovitz spoke to Erin Mulvaney of the National Law Journal regarding the risk to employees following Kavanaugh’s potential confirmation.

Kavanaugh, nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, has demonstrated in past opinions his support for employer interests over those of workers and those protecting employee rights. For example, he dissented in a 2010 ruling that SeaWorld failed to adequately protect its employees from the potential risks of contact between trainers and killer whales.

In his dissent, Kavanaugh pointed to a large list of sporting professions that carry potential hazards, stating that American spectators “enjoy watching these amazing feats of competition and daring, and they pay a lot to do so.” He said that the Labor Department is not the proper body to make decisions regarding safety precautions, and that the majority decision could allow OSHA to regulate sporting events such as NFL games and Nascar races.

Markovitz agreed that Kavanaugh’s confirmation would likely push the Supreme Court to be a wholly pro-business court, protecting the employers over employees. He predicted that Kavanaugh’s arrival at the Supreme Court would continue a trend of 5-4 rulings.

“That’s the real travesty of this situation,” Markovitz said. “There was one point in time where the court . . . based decisions on judicial scholarship and thought. Now, it’s almost full politics.”

To read the full article, click on the National Law Journal logo below. 

Brian Markovitz is a principal in JGL’s Labor and Employment and Civil Litigation practice groups and focuses on helping victims who have suffered severe injustices in the workplace. He represents individuals in complex employment litigation and appellate matters involving wrongful termination, retaliation by employers in response to reporting fraud or misconduct and discrimination on the basis on race, gender, age and sexual orientation.

 

Joseph, Greenwald & Laake attorney Megan Benevento has been honored by The Daily Record with placement on their 2018 Very Important Professional (VIP) Successful by 40 list. Each year this prestigious list honors Maryland’s leaders under 40 years old who have shown outstanding commitment both to their chosen professions and enacting change in their communities.

“This is a big deal for the entire Joseph Greenwald & Laake family,” said Burt Kahn, the firm’s managing director. “We are all proud of Megan for earning such an esteemed award from Maryland’s leading source for legal news. It is truly a testament to her dedicated advocacy and her devotion to protecting the rights of her clients.”

Megan is a civil litigation lawyer and dedicated advocate with deep experience in protecting and enforcing the rights of children, parents, and other individuals who have been injured or had their rights violated by another person or entity. She handles a broad range of civil rights and general litigation matters before state and federal courts throughout Maryland and the Washington, DC area, including police brutality, child abuse, domestic abuse, First Amendment violations, legislative disputes, significant personal injury, commercial disputes, malpractice, and class action fraud litigation.

Megan helps her clients utilize the court system as an agent for social change to vindicate their rights and redress their injuries. In addition to her work in the courtroom, Megan has helped children in the foster care system and worked to improve the overburdened child welfare system.

Megan has also served on the front lines of many interventions and investigations involving severe child abuse and neglect, and testified in support of two bills in the Maryland state legislature during the 2018 legislative session: HB 1072 and 1571, which would assist in the prevention of child abuse within the school system. Megan is managing multiple sexual alleged misconduct cases against the Harbour School, a Baltimore County school that serves over 150 students with special needs. She is also on among the Joseph Greenwald & Laake attorneys who are litigating cases on behalf of students who were sexually abused by school staff members in both Prince George’s County and Charles County.

Megan will be honored along with her fellow VIP honorees at an Awards Celebration at Gertrude’s restaurant in Baltimore on September 13. The celebration will consist of a reception, networking opportunities, dinner and dessert.

Congratulations, Megan on this wonderful professional and personal achievement!

For the full list click the image below.

Joseph, Greenwald & Laake principal Brian Markovitz has recently contributed to Bloomberg BNA’s article “Mass Shooting Attacks: Protecting the Workplace” by providing his legal perspective of how employers can protect themselves against active shooter situations and threats. The article discusses all aspects of protection and prevention: from the different types of screenings that businesses can conduct to reviewing safety drills. Additionally, Markovitz talked about how to manage employees who may become violent.

‘‘You can go through somebody’s background check and pick up domestic violence or criminal activity. Basic Google searches can help if the person is putting up crazy stuff on a Facebook page. But often, you just can’t tell, and that is one of the consequences of allowing individuals to have easy access to weapons,’’ stated Markovitz.

Physical preparation is key Markovitz also noted. ‘‘Safe rooms’’ can be easy and economical to construct by drilling out the floors under doors to install doorjambs, as his firm has done. ‘‘In mass shootings, the shooters, after targeting certain people, if they encounter a door that is jammed, they will just move on,’’ he said. Depending on budget, companies also can install ‘‘slides like people use to escape from airplanes’’ and windows that can be kicked out if escape is necessary. Simplest of all, the front-desk person should have a panic button to call the police, he said.

The way the firing is handled can mean a lot and have an impact on an employee. ‘‘Always terminate on Friday after work hours, or at the end of the day, when there are not a lot of people there, so the employee is not humiliated—so you don’t have to do the ‘walk of shame,’ ’’ Markovitz suggested. ‘‘Don’t give reasons, and don’t get into an argument.’’

Given the increase in active shooter scenarios over the last few years, Brian’s advice should prove helpful to business owners concerned with their workers’ safety. Brian is a principal in JGL’s Labor and Employment and Civil Litigation practice groups. He primarily works on helping those who have suffered workplace injustices. For his work, Brian has been recognized as one of the nation’s top 100 trial lawyers.

To read the article, please click on the Bloomberg BNA logo below.

Reproduced with permission.  Published June 28, 2018. Copyright 2018 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033)http://www.bna.com.

Joseph, Greenwald & Laake principal Jay Holland was recently quoted in a Law360 article covering the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and how it affects modern labor relations. Many business leaders and attorneys who represent workers, including Holland, agree that the FLSA needs significant revision to be effective in the 21^st century.

Holland began the discussion with highlighting the need to raise the federal minimum wage. While individual states and localities have raised the minimum wage above the federally mandated $7.25 since its enactment in 2009, many workers are still forced to live at or near the poverty line.  Jay said that “the federal minimum wage is falling behind the eight-ball” and argued that “a higher minimum wage…would lift all boats.”

The article continues with discussing the need to clearly differentiate the difference between an employee and a contractor as well as boosting the enforcement of employee rights. To read the full article, please click on the Law360 logo below.

Jay Holland is a principal in JGL’s Civil Litigation Group and the chair of the Labor, Employment, and Qui Tam Whistleblower practice. He was rated as a Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters in 2018 for his exemplary work in several high-profile labor law cases. Known for forging tight bonds with his clients, Jay proudly displays a customized plaque from a former client in his office that reads: “The Best Lawyer a Client Could Ever Have.”

Only 5% of attorneys receive this distinction each year. Burt Kahn is the firm’s managing director and a trial lawyer with deep experience in helping victims and their families obtain justice in complex medical malpractice matters and other avoidable accidents that result in life-changing injuries or wrongful death. 

For more about Burt, click the image below. 

The Daily Record recently conducted an interview with Joseph, Greenwald & Laake principal Brian Markovitz about the growing opioid epidemic as it relates to employers and employees. The article titled “Employers Must Be Aware of Drug Abuse” discusses employer-employee relations in the context of the opioid epidemic and what employers should consider if they have an employee who is struggling with drug addiction.

Brian shares “If you have anyone abusing drugs, you fire them. If they are currently abusing drugs, you can’t have someone working there. You just don’t know what they will do,” However, he pointed out that rehabilitated drug addicts are protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and that they cannot legally be fired on the grounds that they are in recovery. The issue of how long someone needs to be off drugs in order to receive protection as “rehabilitated,” he said, has not been fully decided by the courts and must be addressed on a case-by-case basis, and employers need to keep possible liability issues in mind.

To read the article in its entirety, please click on The Daily Record logo below.

Brian is a principal in Joseph, Greenwald & Laake’s Labor and Employment and Civil Litigation practice groups. He focuses on helping victims who have suffered severe injustice in the workplace. He represents individuals throughout Maryland, the Washington DC area and across the country in complex employment litigation and appellate matters involving wrongful termination, retaliation by employers in response to reporting fraud or misconduct and discrimination on the basis of race, gender, age and sexual orientation. 

 

Joseph, Greenwald & Laake attorney Vijay Mani was recently elected as a JGL senior counsel and The Daily Record has recognized this in a formal announcement. Vijay is an attorney in the Qui Tam litigation and Labor/Employment Law practice groups. This honor comes as a result of Vijay’s committed work in defending whistleblowers who report their employers’ illicit activities at tremendous risk to themselves.

In their reporting on Vijay’s new position, The Daily Record noted that Vijay “frequently advocates on behalf of whistleblowers in claims against government contractors who have committed fraud.”

Vijay also represents employees throughout Maryland and Washington, DC who suffer workplace discrimination, harassment, retaliatory practices, unequal pay and unlawful termination. He also has experience working directly with vulnerable communities; before he began practicing law, he worked with children infected with HIV/AIDS in the Washington, DC area. His experiences both inside and outside of the legal system have made him uniquely positioned to deal with labor disputes compassionately and effectively.

Congratulations again, Mani!

JGL Principal David Bulitt is a featured contributor in this week’s special issue of The Daily Record: “Opioid Special Coverage: The Road to Recovery.”  The Daily Record’s reporting comes at the end of another year of record-high opioid abuse. Since the early 2000s, the level of opioid abuse and addiction has risen steadily.  Bulitt’s article, “Maryland’s Courts and the Opioid Epidemic” focuses on the Maryland Judiciary’s response to this growing crisis.  

Bulitt shares that Maryland is one of the states that was an early adopter of programs that work not only to enforce the law but also to coordinate teams of professionals to help families struggling with drug addiction.

He also notes that drug courts have been in place in the state since 2004 but have grown more prevalent because of the ongoing opioid epidemic. By creating a collaborative group of professionals in each case, David pointed out, courts can monitor and guide each step of a person’s recovery from drug addiction.

David focuses his practice on complex family law cases, helping clients in Maryland and Washington, DC, through difficult times, including divorces, custody battles and other contentious domestic conflicts. Clients regard David as both a skilled negotiator at the mediation table and as a staunch advocate in the courtroom. David is also the author of two popular books of fiction. He is a member of JGL’s Executive Committee.

To read Bulitt’s article, click on The Daily Record logo below. 

 

Principal Paul Riekhof has been named one of Montgomery County’s top estate lawyers in a feature article that appears in the July-August issue of Bethesda Magazine.

Paul was one of only 17 attorneys named by the magazine in its feature titled “Top Estate Lawyers.” He is a repeat recipient of this prestigious honor, having received it when the magazine last did a review of estate lawyers in 2011 as well.  

“I am honored to be chosen on this list and to be selected from among a great many fine estate lawyers,” Paul said.

Paul takes a personal approach to estate planning.  He strives to gain an understanding of his clients, their goals and their needs in order to develop a plan that reflects who the clients are through the wills, trusts and other documents that are developed for them.  He is happy to visit his clients at their homes, hospitals or nursing homes to make the process easier for them.

Paul is a shareholder and member of the Executive Committee of Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, which the article refers to as “a regional powerhouse with offices in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.”

At Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, Paul’s experience includes representing and advising clients concerning all aspects of estate tax planning, wealth preservation, family business preservation, gift and charitable gift planning, buy-sell agreements, establishing special needs trusts and discretionary trusts to conserve assets for the benefit of disabled individuals, establishing irrevocable trusts to remove insurance and other assets from estates, and establishing revocable trusts for probate avoidance and disability planning.

To read the article, please click on the Bethesda Magazine logo below.

 

In May 2018, Joseph Greenwald & Laake announced the hiring of associate attorney, Michael Joseck as part of the firm’s Estate and Trusts practice. This past week, the Maryland State Bar Association recognized Joseck in an official announcement in their Bar Bulletin newsletter. Joseck provides counsel to individuals on matters in estate planning, estate and trust administration, and estate and trust taxation issues.

Michael is a proud graduate of the Western Michigan School of Law. While in law school, he was a member of the Moot Court, the Tax Law Society, and he volunteered in preparing tax returns for low-income individuals through the VITA program. Before joining JGL, he was the Chief Auditor for the Howard County Register of Wills. While there, he oversaw the estate audit department and the unique Maryland Inheritance Tax. He has also worked for a Delaware trust company and an accounting firm.