Legal Updates and Firm News

HGRS LLP’s Florida Office Expands with Addition of New Partner Mark Bonfanti

HGRS LLP is pleased to announce that Mark L. Bonfanti has joined the firm as a partner in its Seagrove Beach, Florida office.  Mark joins us from the law firm of Allen, Norton & Blue, P.A., where he was a Senior Attorney, representing employers in a wide spectrum of employment litigation matters and traditional labor matters.  Prior to that, Mark served as in-house Labor and Employment...Read More

Associate Elizabeth Newton Recognized as Georgia “Rising Star.”

HGRS LLP associate attorney Elizabeth M. Newton has been recognized as a 2018 “Georgia Rising Star,” as published by Atlanta Magazine and the Atlanta Business Chronicle.  According to the selection committee, Rising Stars are those “outstanding” lawyers age 40 and under who have “attained a high degree peer recognition and professional achievement.”  The Rising Star designation is limited to...Read More

HAGRS LLP Partners Recognized as Georgia Super Lawyers for 2018

Several partners at Hall, Arbery, Gilligan, Roberts and Shanlever LLP (Wit Hall, Chris Arbery, Matt Gilligan, and Dave Roberts) have been recognized as 2018 “Georgia Super Lawyers,” as published in Atlanta Magazine and the Atlanta Business Chronicle.  According to the selection committee, Super Lawyers are those who have “achieved excellence in their practice” and are selected based on “a high...Read More

HAGRS LLP Welcomes New Associate Brian S. Abrams

HAGRS LLP is pleased to announce that Brian S. Abrams has joined the firm as an associate in its Atlanta office.  Brian joins the firm following clerkships at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit with the Honorable Frank M. Hull (2016-2017) and at the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia, with the Honorable Harold L. Murphy (2014-2016), where he gained invaluable...Read More

U.S. News & World Report ranks HAGRS LLP in 2018 “Best Law Firms”

HAGRS LLP is ranked in the 2018 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).  According to the selection committee, rankings are “based on a rigorous evaluation process,” and law firms included in the 2018 “Best Law...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

NLRB Widens the Goalposts for Labor Union Organizers

A recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board could have a major impact on tens of thousands of employees who never thought that they would have to worry about labor unions.  In Browning Ferris Industries of California, Inc. et al., NLRB Case No. 32-RC-109684 (August 27, 2015), a majority of the five member Board held that a company was required to recognize and bargain with a union...Read More

What is Your Employment Risk Profile?

Are you prepared for a potential lawsuit or government investigation involving your employment practices?  Most employers know they have significant risk in this area, but do not know how to limit their legal exposure.  To properly assess and improve its risk profile, and potentially avoid a legal dispute altogether, an employer should work with legal counsel to focus on the following key...Read More

11th Circuit Rejects “Not Our Fault” Defense

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that an employer is not absolved from liability for unreported overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) if it has actual or constructive knowledge that time records are inaccurate.  The ruling in Bailey v. TitleMax of Georgia (No. 14-11747) reversed a lower court’s decision accepting the defense that an employee could not recover...Read More

Beyond Liability: Get Employees In S.H.A.P.E.

What are you providing employees in exchange for their time and service?  The answer many managers and supervisors probably would give is “a regular paycheck; insurance.”  Unfortunately, most employees probably would give the same answer.  Managers who want more from employees should consider what more they are doing (or should be doing) for employees, every day. Managers and supervisors...Read More