Legal Updates and Firm News

Associates Elizabeth Newton and Brian Abrams Recognized as 2019 Georgia “Rising Stars.”

HAGRS LLP associate attorneys Elizabeth Newton and Brian Abrams have been recognized by Super Lawyers as a 2019 “Georgia Rising Stars,” as published by Atlanta Magazine and the Atlanta Business Chronicle.  According to the Super Lawyers selection committee, Rising Stars are those “outstanding” lawyers age 40 and under who have “attained a high degree peer recognition and professional...Read More

U.S. News & World Report ranks HGRS LLP in 2019 “Best Law Firms” List.

HAGRS LLP is ranked in the 2019 U.S. News & World Report – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” list in two practice area categories.  HAGRS is ranked regionally in Employment Law – Management (Tier 1) and Litigation – Labor and Employment (Tier 1); and nationally in Litigation – Labor and Employment (Tier 3).  According to the selection committee, rankings are “based on a...Read More

HAGRS LLP Welcomes New Associate Jennifer Sniadecki in Florida Office

HAGRS LLP is pleased to announce that Jennifer Sniadecki has joined the firm as an associate in its Seagrove Beach, Florida office.  Jennifer is a graduate of American Military University.  She received her law degree at the Mercer University – Walter F. George School of Law, where she was Co-Editor of the Mercer Intraschool Mock Trial Competition, President of the Association of Veteran...Read More

HAGRS LLP Welcomes New Associate Wayne Cartwright

HAGRS LLP is pleased to announce that Wayne Cartwright has joined the firm as an associate in its Atlanta office.  Wayne joins us from the law firm of Insley & Race LLP, where he gained significant litigation experience representing businesses and individuals in a variety of general liability and professional negligence matters.  Wayne is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of...Read More

HAGRS LLP Obtains Complete Defense Verdict After 5-Day Jury Trial.

Hall, Arbery, Gilligan, Robert & Shanlever LLP has secured a complete defense verdict for its client, a nationally acclaimed sports organization, following a five-day jury trial before Chief Judge Robert C. I. McBurney in Fulton County Superior Court (Atlanta, Georgia).   HAGRS’s trial team of partner Matt Gilligan and associates Elizabeth Newton and Brian Abrams defended their client...Read More

DOL Issues New Final Rule on FLSA Exemptions Vastly Increasing the Number of Employees Eligible for Overtime Pay

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division announced its Final Rule updating the salary requirements for exemptions from overtime pay requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Final Rule more than doubles the salary threshold needed to satisfy the most common exemptions, raising it from $23,660 to $47,476 annually ($455 to $913 weekly), and increases the...Read More

Are You Ready for the New Overtime Exemption Rules?

The new salary requirements for overtime exemptions are expected to take effect in 2016.  As reported in a previous legal update, the proposed final rule would more than double the salary level required for exemptions applicable to executive, administrative, or professional employees, from $455 per week ($23,660 per year) to $970 per week ($50,440 per year). Employers are urged to review their...Read More

New Federal Trade Secrets Law Features “Civil Seizure” Remedy

The “Defend Trade Secrets Act” has passed through Congress and is awaiting signature by President Obama, which is expected any day now.  Up to now, trade secrets have been the exclusive province of state law.  Although the new law will not displace state laws, it will provide an overlapping set of procedures to protect trade secrets and allow for enforcement of misappropriation claims in...Read More

Untimely Discrimination Claims Could Be Revived

A recent decision by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (covering Georgia, Florida, and Alabama) may have opened the door for countless otherwise-expired claims of age discrimination with no evidence of intentional basis. In Villareal v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the Court ruled that an unsuccessful job applicant could pursue a claim of age discrimination under the federal Age...Read More

DOL Continues Expansion of “Joint Employer” Coverage

The US Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recently issued an Administrative Interpretation that greatly expands the possibility that two or more businesses are “joint employers” of one employee.  Joint employment status means two or more employers may be held jointly and severally responsible for fulfilling minimum wage, overtime, and other obligations under the...Read More