Associate Advice, pls hndle thx

Pls Hndle Thx: Get Rich or Die Tryin'

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ATL –

I was an associate at Morgan & Finnegan and got laid off. It looks like I will not be getting my WARN Act payments, and I don’t know if I want to join a suit trying to claim those payments. I was thinking about suing the firm, but my concern is hurting my reputation in the legal community by suing a former employer. Could you please give me some advice on this?

Check’s In The Mail

Dear Check’s In The Mail –

For those of you just joining us, during the first hour of I Love Money 2, Morgan & Finnegan dissolved, laid off all its attorneys and allegedly cut them bad checks for severance/WARN payments (perhaps from a frozen account). If it’s a class action and you’re not the named plaintiff — sue until your heart’s content. But I’d be wary of filing suit if it’s just you, Dave, Dave from floor 17 and real estate Mike banding together to sue.

Let’s tackle the legal argument first in this latter scenario, seeing as this is a law blog. Are employees of bankrupt organization senior creditors? I have no idea; they told me not to bother studying commercial credit because it rarely appears on the bar exam. But practically speaking, nobody ever gets their money when places go bankrupt. Any episode of 20/20 featuring John Stossel could tell you that.

Are you prepared to sink a ton of time and money into pursuing this claim? If not, abandon ship now. There was a reason M & F billed you out at $300+, and that’s because their rates were intended to scare away all but those who had giant bags of money to spare. And apparently M&F scared them away, too.

Finally, if you, Dave, Dave and Mike sue, your complaint will inevitably appear on Above the Law. We’ll analyze it, we’ll criticize it, we’ll link to the PDF. But the collective scrutiny of Elie, Lat, Kash and myself is child’s play compared to the wrath of guest. Are you ready for the commenters?

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Since Elie’s not here, after the jump I play the role of Elie and argue with myself for several paragraphs. Immediately thereafter, I check into Bellevue.

Listen, champ. You’re running. You’re running hard and fast to the bank, and your check is bouncing. Where does it go? No idea. But that’s your check, and Tyler Durden wants you to cash it any way you can. That means putting on your boxing gloves and fighting Mr. T, preferably in a ring in the 1980s, but a courtroom will have to do.

Sure , sure some firms may recognize your name because of the lawsuit, but if they were in your position they’d do the same thing and they can’t blame you for it. The worst that’s going to happen here is that you sue and you end up with nothing. No harm, no foul. But you’ll be more of a man for trying.

Heroes in a half shell, turtle power!

Master Splinter

Your spirits may be roused by Marin’s Elie’s stirring battle cry, but remember the cautionary tale of 50 Cent. The rapper once said he would “get rich or die tryin,” and while he’s wealthy now, he was also shot 9 times. The point is if you’re willing to live hard and sue, you risk dying hard, reputation-wise. And unless your back up plan includes making a delicious Vitamin Water drink, I would live softly for the moment.

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