Attig Law Firm P.L.L.C

An appellant before the MSPB can recover attorney fees. Many cases settle before getting to an MSPB hearing. In settlement agreements, it is common for the parties to agree on a sum that includes attorney fees, costs and expenses.

When a case doesn’t settle and goes to hearing, the appellant must be a prevailing party in order to recoup attorney fees.

After your attorney shows that you are a prevailing party, (s)he will have to show that attorney fees are in the interest of justice. What does that mean? Under the Allen test, the Board tells us that an attorney fee award is in the interest of justice if:

1. The agency engaged in a prohibited personnel practice;
2. The agency action was clearly without merit or wholly unfounded, or the employee was substantially innocent of the charges;
3. The agency initiated the action in bad faith;
4. The agency committed a gross procedural error; or
5. The agency knew or should have known that it would not prevail on the merits.

Once it is established that the appellant was the prevailing party, and an award of attorney fees is in the interests of justice, the Board will review the attorney’s computation of hours spent on the case and the hourly rate for that work to ensure that the fees requested are reasonable.

When an employee makes a claim under USERRA (for example, a claim for reimbursement of military leave improperly charged on an employee’s nonwork days) the standard for attorney fees is very different. Instead of a prevailing party requirement, the employee will recover attorney fees if the board issued an “order” requiring the agency to correct its violations under USERRA. Jacobsen v. Dept. of Justice, 2006 MSPB 26 (2006).
Recovering attorney fees is never a guarantee, even if you prevail. However, in many cases, some Federal Agencies will agree to settle the issue of attorney fees after they have received an adverse decision on the merits. There are some Agencies, however, that will fight the attorney fee issue just because they can.

If you would like to consult with an MSPB attorney about your MSPB appeal, contact the Attig Law Firm today.

Business owners - just as in the Y2K crisis, you should run a check of all your time-based business and computer systems to ensure that you have planned for this change in Daylight Savings Time.

Beginning in 2007, daylight saving time (DST) will be extended in the United States. DST will start on March 11, 2007, which is three weeks earlier than usual, and it will end on November 4, 2007, which is one week later than usual.

This results in a new DST period that is four weeks longer than in previous years. Unless certain updates are applied to your computer, the time zone settings for your computer’s system clock may be incorrect during this four-week period. In particular, you must make sure that both your Windows operating system and your calendar programs are updated.

Here is another tool to help you finance your small business: Prosper.com

The premise of the site is straightforward - it cuts out the middle man (banks) and puts lenders directly in contact with borrowers.  Simply join a group and post your borrowing (or lending) needs or goals. If you “sell” your business and business plan well - and have a good credit rating - you might be able to get some additional startup capital at interests rates well below those of big banks.

The Attig Law Firm recommends that a startup business enterprise consider all other sources of financing before taking out loans.   As always, before signing any loan agreement, investment a small amount of time and money to protect your business interests: have a small business attorney look over the loan documents before you sign.

Does this story from Sunday’s Dallas Morning News sound familiar:

“Bill Hollis was a caseworker at a state juvenile prison in West Texas, and he had suspicions. He believed the prison’s No. 2 official spent far too much time behind closed doors, late at night, with young male inmates.

“It just didn’t feel right,” he said.

So Mr. Hollis wrote a letter of complaint to the executive director of the Texas Youth Commission in Austin, the state agency that runs the West Texas State School. The reaction from agency management was quick and tough  against Mr. Hollis.”

Time and time again, the story repeats itself. A government employee uses his (or her) position of public trust for personal gain or for their own personal gratification. When another employee tries to put an end to it, the whistle-blower is made to be the villain.

Our current Whistleblower statutes (State and Federal) are not sufficient and fail to provide enough of a deterrent to those who would use government for their own personal gain or to satisfy their own personal desires.

The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007 and the Federal Employee Protection of Disclosures Act are steps in the right direction. However, they don’t do enough. Only when we, the taxpayers, are finally fed up with our government being the playground for the vices and whims of individual managers and supervisors will things really start to change. Contact your U.S. Representative and your Senator to ask for real Whistleblower Protection today.

The Attig Law Firm represents Federal and State Whistleblowers. If you are a government employee who blew the whistle on government waste, fraud and abuse, and subsequently suffer reprisal for doing what is in the public’s best interest, contact the Attig Law Firm today.

Seriously - this guy can’t be hurt again. But alas, he appears to be headed for an MRI on his foot. From what I can tell, Pava-No-Pitch was hit on the foot by a batted ball during batting practice.

Joe Torre’s comment was insightful: “He had a shoe on, all that stuff is a good sign,” Torre said. I’m sure that if Pava-No-Pitch was pitching without a shoe, he most certainly would be back on the DL.

In case you’ve missed the latest from spring-training camp, here’s a quick update. This is the big news that the sports media wants us to know about the approaching 2007 Spring Training:

1) Randy Johnson said the New York media are poo-poo heads and made him feel icky.

2) Sheff said that Joe Torre was a mean daddy.

3) A-Rod told his mommy that he doesn’t want to go to his buddy Derek’s place for sleepovers anymore.

4) Carl Pava-no-pitch asked Moose to be his best friend again.

5) Carl Pava-no-pitch immediately went to the nurse’ station with lead in his ass.

6) Bernie wants to stay in Mr. Torre’s class FOREVER!

7) Mo wants his teacher to give him an A+ for an exam he hasn’t taken yet or he’s going to transfer to Boston Elementary.

Mr. Swindal, the Vice-Principal, is hiding whiskey in his lower desk drawer and taking swigs during social studies. Naughty naughty.

9) Bubba Crosby is mad that he was the last one picked for dodge-ball every day at recess. So he took his ball and went to play with his real friends in Cincinnati.

I’d be willing to bet that none of these players are talking about this stuff - it’s all the sports media dredging for stories because they have forgotten how to talk about baseball.

As for me, I’m kinda curious if the Phillies really are the NL East favorite. If I was a sports-writer, I’d do some reporting about that.

The 2007 Republican budget contains an interesting proposal for the self-proclaimed political party for business. The Son of George Bush wants to eliminate government backed small business micro-loans.

Micro-loans are loans of $35,000 or less that are subsidized by the US Government’s Small Business Administration (SBA). Because the loans are subsidized by the U.S. Government, the interests rates are often the best interest rates available. According to the Dallas Business Journal, 90,000 businesses borrowed $13.5 billion in micro-loans in 2006.

If the SBA does not subsidize small business micro loans, then interest rates and fees will skyrocket, and fewer small businesses will have access to the small bursts of capital needed to get their businesses running. Since these types of loans traditionally help lower income and middle class enterpreuneurs the most, it stands to reason that once again, the Republicans are pinching the middle class out of economic opportunity.

But here’s the real motive - the cuts in the SBA subsidies are being used to increase micro-loans for businesses in Iraq. Now, I’m not saying we shouldn’t help folks overseas if we can. And I’m not saying we should help Americans before we help anyone else.

What I am saying is this - when forced to choose between American small business and Iraqi big business, the Son of George Bush and Company have shown their true colors.

Wells Fargo and Gallup released the results of a Small Business Survey last week. The survey concluded that the top concern of Small Business owners in 2007 is insurance. Taxes, usually the primary concern of small business owners, came in second.

Here are some typical insurance needs of many small businesses:

• Property Insurance - Home based business owners need to make sure their homeowner’s policy covers their business activities. Business owners on a lease often need additional insurance, as the landlord’s policy rarely covers the tenant’s business assets.
• Worker Comp Insurance - If you have employees, this is a necessary expense. For small businesses, learning the ins and outs of workers compensation insurance can be a nightmare.
• Liability Insurance - Every business should consider the possibility that its products and services might injure someone.
• Key Person Loss Insurance - the most overlooked insurance for small businesses. If a key person (owner, salesperson, etc) dies or becomes disabled, will the business have capital available to continue operations or replace lost volume? Will a business have capital to buy out the heir that inherits an interest in the business but has no desire to actually operate the business?
• Business Income or Interruption Coverage - what happens if the business has a shortfall in revenue because of a disaster like a fire, flood, or some other disaster? Â Often, small business owners discover the need for this type of insurance in developing a Business Continuity Plan.

The key to taking the hassling out of your small business’ insurance needs is to realistically confront the risk your business is exposed to most frequently, and determine the business ability to financially protect against that risk.

A small business attorney can assist in assessing your business risk and insurance needs or goals. The Attig Law Firm provides objective legal advice to small business owners about their risk and insurance levels.

A 2006 case out of the 7th Circuit (Illinois) dealt with a woman who was fired, essentially, because she filed an EEO claim for reasonable accommodation of her cancer (among other things).  The Court stated, in its decision on the reprisal matter:

“Poor personnel management receives its come-uppance in the market rather than the courts.”

Statements like this are the mantra of the employment-defense bar. I can’t blame them, really - it really is easier (albeit cowardly) to ignore discrimination and the abuses of power and pretend that the “market” can regulate itself.

First of all, for the vast majority of workers that are employed by county, state and federal governments, there is no “market” to regulate the conduct of poor personnel management, particularly when that poor management rises to the level of discrimination.

Second of all, the only way that the market can “regulate” poor management is if labor is free to move to better companies and better jobs.  In a world where most salaries are shrinking, where it is increasingly impossible for the average paycheck to cover an average family’s expenses, and where the labor market is actually shrinking, there really is no way to regulate poor management without the assistance of the Courts.

Historically, the Courts have served as a check on the powers of the Executive and the congress.  Likewise, they often serve as a check on the “lack of power” of our Governors, our President and our Statehouses.  When our elected officials fail to take action to protect us from the worst among us, and when our elected officials fail to promote the best economic interests of the whole population, the Judiciary must stand as a protector of the laborer.

My bold prediction for 2007: Alfonso Soriano will become the first 50-50 player in the history of baseball.  For those of you that don’t follow much baseball, that’s 50 Home Runs and 50 Stolen Bases in a single season - nobody’s ever done it before.
Soriano has his share of critics - it seems to me that no matter how well this kid performs, there is a group out there that wants to tear him down.  If you laughed at my prediction, there’s a good possibility that you have spent too much time listening to those critics and not enough time looking at some of the things Sori has done.

• When Soriano set a record for the highest salary ever awarded in arbitration (receiving $10 million), the nay-sayers said he wouldn’t live up to it.  Instead, he became only the 4th player in baseball history to reach 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season.
• When he was traded to the Nationals, “they” said his power would suffer in the great expanses of RFK stadium.  He went on to hit 46 home-runs in 2006.
• “They” say he has no work ethic, but he became the fastest man in baseball history to reach 200 home runs and 200 stolen bases.
• “They” said he couldn’t play left field, and wouldn’t survive the transition from infield to outfield.  However, in 2006, Sori had 20 outfield assists from left field.  [This is an amazing feat - left fielders don’t typically get a lot of assists, or opportunities for assists.  I looked at Bill James’ list of the top 10 left-fielders in the history of the game, and found that only 2 have ever had more than 20 assists in a season: Tim Raines had 21 assists in 1983, and Shoeless Joe had 3 consecutive 20+ assist seasons from 1911-1913. Please shoot me an email if you find a left fielder that 20+ assists in a season]
• “They” say he strikes out to much.  Well, each year that he’s played (with the exception of 2006), he’s reduced his total number of strikeous.  In 2006, Sori took a different tack, and more than doubled the number of walks he received (67 in 2006, 33 in 2005), showing the baseball world that he may have learned to lay off the low-and-away pitch that is his “kryptonite”.

Soriano is, very quietly, going to put up numbers over the next 5-10 years that guarantee him a spot in Cooperstown.  My worry is this: because sportswriters have given him an undeserved reputation as lacking a work ethic and having a bad attitude, he won’t ever get the recognition he deserves.

Good luck in Chicago, Soriano.