Are you prepared to navigate the complex waters of employment law, your career and ensure your rights are protected? In this enlightening episode of the Employee Survival Guide®, Mark Carey unveils the crucial role that consultations with his law office, Carey & Associates PC, play in empowering employees like you during your career. With an emphasis on the importance of preparation, Mark shares insider tips on how to make the most of your paid consultation. Understanding the nuances of severance negotiation and employment law is essential, and Mark’s guidance will equip you with the knowledge to tackle your workplace challenges head-on during your career.
Mark stresses the significance of sending in detailed narratives and relevant documents before your consultation. This proactive step not only maximizes your time but also lays the groundwork for a meaningful discussion about your employment issues, whether they involve discrimination, retaliation, or hostile work environments. By establishing clear goals regarding severance pay and the potential implications of pursuing legal action against your employer, you can approach the legal process with confidence. Mark’s insights into the common pitfalls of filing lawsuits will help you adopt a more conservative approach to decision-making, ensuring you navigate your employment rights wisely.
Confidentiality is paramount in legal consultations, and Mark reassures listeners of the attorney-client privilege that allows for open and honest dialogue. This episode is a must-listen for anyone facing employment disputes, workplace harassment, or discrimination in the workplace, as it empowers you to take control of your career and advocate for your rights. Whether you’re dealing with pregnancy discrimination, age discrimination, or need guidance on negotiating a severance package, Mark’s expertise shines through as he provides valuable advice tailored to your specific situation.
Don’t miss this opportunity to gain clarity and direction regarding your employment issues. Tune into the Employee Survival Guide® and equip yourself with the essential tools for navigating workplace challenges, understanding employment contracts, and achieving your career goals. Remember, your journey towards workplace empowerment starts with informed decisions and strategic consultations. Join us as we unravel the complexities of employment law and help you survive—and thrive—in today’s work environment.
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For more information, please contact our employment attorneys at Carey & Associates, P.C. at 203-255-4150, www.capclaw.com.
Disclaimer: For educational use only, not intended to be legal advice.
Full transcript click here
Speaker 1: 0:20
Hey, it’s Mark and I wanted to give you a quick discussion about consultations with our office. If you called Carey & Associates PC, we do paid consultations for about $400 for roughly half an hour. But you know, you know me, I’m long-winded and I talk a lot, so you may get more out of it because I go for an hour. That’s pretty darn well worth it. But I want you to understand, when you call for consultation or you’re considering a consultation with our office, we’re working to try to develop new ways to convey to you the importance of what we do and just being transparent.
Why is a paid consultation worth it? That’s the question and I’m going to give it to you straight and narrow. Before the consultation with me, you’re going to send me your detailed narrative of facts. You’re going to send me your severance agreements, some other documents. I will attempt to read most, if not all, of the material before the call. So I’m spending more time before the call to understand the call with you, to maximize your time with me. So that’s my time out of the day because I want the consultation to be informative. I want it to be far-reaching. I also want it to be productive and provide for roadmapping what’s going to happen, to give you the risks of what you’re doing but also explain to you the benefit of proceeding in a case, potentially against your employer.
I’ll also warn you against the aspect of filing lawsuits and why they’re the last resort thing you ever want to do. I’m going to pack that conversation so heavily that you’re going to be pretty much overwhelmed by the time you get off the phone. You’ll have a clear understanding of what you want to do, and that’s my job… is to get you to the end point to make a decision one way or another. And it’s not influencing your decision which way you go. It’s simply, if there’s no case there, I’m going to basically express to you there’s not much we can do because I can’t make up stuff, but usually when we have consults, we take them on. We know what we’re getting into beforehand. We take a lot of notes before when the calls come in and we can decipher the quality of the case before the consultation. So I got a leg up before the call to make it more important for you. So when you’re calling us for a consultation or deciding whether to do a consultation with our office, nine times out of 10, you’ll be speaking directly with me, and if not because of scheduling issues, I’ll have someone else on the phone who’s equally as qualified as myself to do the intake.
Speaker 1: 2:56
Because all we do here is employment law and everyone does the same thing in terms of trying to figure out how we can help you roadmap the case, figure out a solution and – most important I can’t underestimate this – to establish what is your goal. If you start this case, you have to have that goal in mind ahead of time, and the easiest example is people want more severance pay because it’s not enough. So, establishing what your goal is, think about that before the consultation. We’ll go through that and ask you specifically. Sometimes, just simply asking the question forces people to really reconcile “What is my goal.”
Speaker 1: 3:35
I will dispense with an easy one of justice you need to understand. Yes, we have an American justice system. The employment area is covered by the courts. Justice is equivalent to money in terms of what happens in these cases. So I need you to understand that the best that we can do… our system is not perfect, and I’ve had many judges say the same thing in front of my clients in private caucus sessions and mediation. You know an apology is helpful, but money is what does it, and typically that’s what the goal should be is to put you into a transaction which you benefit from, so you can have money to land in the next job and your economics are not screwed up because you lost income. So it’s income replacement. So the goal is really important.
Speaker 1: 4:29
There is other implicit goals in the process of pursuing employers. I call the shaming goal, where you basically shame your employer, because your affidavit that you hear me talk about so much. The affidavit is really where we call out the employer through your narrative, your words. We obviously choreograph that in such a way that demonstrates the legality of the employer’s behavior or illegality of that, and shames the bad actors and what they did, and so shaming is part of the process. Or having your employer reconcile what they did against you. Whatever way you want to phrase it, I don’t really care. But I’m going to pack that consultation in a way that moves you from point A to Z and you know how to do it and that’s what I believe. I don’t know what other people do, but that’s what I think consultation should be. So we’re thinking about you, we’re thinking about the consultation process and why you should do it. If you’re considering it with our office, we’re going to make it worthwhile for you.
Speaker 1: 5:38
It is a confidential discussion. You’re talking with an attorney. It’s attorney-client privileged. However, we don’t retain you – we’re not your attorneys until you actually engage us in a written agreement. So you just need to understand that. But the conversation you’re having is, in fact, privileged. We have no reason to tell anybody else about it. But it’s designed just for you. And if your spouse wants to show up, your spouse can participate in that. If you have a family friend who’s a lawyer, the lawyer can participate in the conversation if you need to. But outside of that group, the conversation’s between just us and yourself, because of the level of the attorney-client privilege, only flows so far. So again, this is a very impactful conversation designed to allow you to understand choices of options. And remember the first option, you can always choose to do nothing. It’s the cheapest. Consider that. I’ll actually remind you of that. And the last option of filing lawsuits, I’ll tell you stay away from it.
Speaker 1: 6:36
You don’t want to pay legal fees to lawyers? Yeah, you heard from me. I’m a lawyer, but it’s something you need to hear, because most lawyers don’t tell people that. It’s just our job, ethically, is to put ourselves in your shoes to make decisions for you. If you had understood the law, that’s what lawyers do. So one of the aspects is don’t spend money on legal fees if you don’t have to. You might want to spend them on college education or your mortgage. But working in a very conservative decision-making process is really what I’m driving into the consultative process with you in that half hour to hour long conversation I’m having with you. That’s what the consultation means to me and I want it to mean to you. So walk into it prepared. Walk into it providing documents and information to us, and we will provide the feedback you’re looking for to allow you to make the decisions one way or the other. Okay, just a few thoughts about consultations with our office. Enjoy, Take care.