question about attorney retainer and fee

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scaredycat

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I recently called an attorney to see if I had a case against my current employer. The assistant I spoke with asked some questions and then asked if we could come in on Monday. He then advised the hour consult would be $200.
I have two questions:
1) I only want to know if I have a case. If I dont, I do not want to pay $200 to find out.
2) If I do have a case, do attorneys (specifically in Florida) work off of a contingency basis? I dont mind paying a consult fee but if they take the case with confidence they can win it, will they collect the remainder of their fee as a percentage of the settlement?

I will pitch my problem here if there is someone who can truly tell me if this is a legit case.
Thanks all!
Scaredy cat
 
We don't know if you have a legit case. You haven't told us anything about it.
 
Moonlight madness

My Partner and I work at a very large well known insurance company. We started our own media type business about a year ago. The insurance company we work for has a non-solicit policy but it has not been enforced. There are individuals (at the insurance co) who own small businesses and do things like sell cosmetics or housewares thru magazines etc while on the job. Many of us on the job are their customers. Management doesnt even bat an eye. Infact, some of them are management too that operate these businesses.
Recently, we were solicited while at work by email (from corporate) at the Insurance company to perform our service for them for an event and for another document they were going to publish. We agreed to do these jobs and were compensated with gift cards instead of a check. We agreed to these terms also- there was no problem with that.
Now, however, we are being "investigated" by corporate for having an outside business and using the insurance company facilities to "Operate" our business. Specifically emails. We may actually be fired because we used company applications in relationship to our business. We have recieved emails from time to time from a coworker who may be interested in our service, but we certainly do NOT conduct our business from the insurance office. One of the emails they showed me during their investigation was one where I responded to a coworker via email and told her to call my business line after work. The company broke it's own rules by hiring us for jobs while we were on the job there too.
There is also a question of how all of this investigation started.
There is a possibility that a member of upper management that got in trouble because my partner had to file a complaint against her, tried to point the finger and play the "what about him! He has a business he runs and it could be interfering with his job" blame game.
My partner has worked there for 13 years and I have been there for 4 years.
Florida is a right to work state so they could really fire us for whatever unless it is considered an illegal reason.
So,.....that is it in a nutshell.
We still dont know if we are going to be fired but they are collecting as much ammo as they can.
 
By the way, the Ben Franklin quote is a little bit outdated don't you think? Choose your words carefully because I can see someone taking offense to that in this culture.
 
scaredycat said:
By the way, the Ben Franklin quote is a little bit outdated don't you think? Choose your words carefully because I can see someone taking offense to that in this culture.
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What is offensive in that quote?:confused:
 
Im not trying to be offensive toward you - I am not offended by it -and I understand the definition of "niggardly" but that could be misunderstood by someone who doesnt "get it". That's all I'm saying - Sorry.
 
scaredycat said:
Im not trying to be offensive toward you - I am not offended by it -and I understand the definition of "niggardly" but that could be misunderstood by someone who doesnt "get it". That's all I'm saying - Sorry.
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Since there is nothing offensive in the quote, I won't change it.

I can't help it if people don't understand everything.:angel
 
Okay, back to your question.

Do you have an EMPLOYMENT contract with your employer?
 
scaredycat said:
No - not a contract.
My partner is Salary and I am an hourly employee.
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Then I suspect you can be fired for no or any reason.

Stand by for cbg or some other employment law expert (which I am NOT!)

Sounds like you have a crappy employer but that doesn't mean what they are doing is illegal!:mad:
 
First you need to get your terminology straight. You may understand what the word "niggardly" means but you don't understand the concept of right to work, which means that you cannot be forced to join a union to get work. It has nothing whatsoever to do with your situation.

What you mean is that Florida, like every other state in the US except Montana and even including Montana in some circumstances, follows the doctrine of employment at will, which means that you can quit at any time and for any reason, and you can be fired at any time and for any reason that does not violate the law. Nothing in your post suggests that if you are fired, it will be illegal.

Violating their own policies in hiring you does not make it illegal to then turn around and fire you for a conflict of interest. Nor would it be illegal if they decide that no one can operate a side business using company materials because of the problems with the employee in upper management.

You seem to understand that there has to be a law prohibiting them from terming you before it is illegal. What law were you anticipating their being that would make it illegal to fire you for this? That might make it easier to get to the meat of your question.
 
Retaliation-but I also understand this would be hard to prove - other than circumstantial-
This is exactly why I didnt want to pay someone $200 to tell me I dont have a leg to stand on.
Thanks for your expertise.
 
scaredycat said:
Retaliation-but I also understand this would be hard to prove - other than circumstantial-
This is exactly why I didnt want to pay someone $200 to tell me I dont have a leg to stand on.
Thanks for your expertise.
Click to expand...

Actually, circumstantial evidence is the strongest you can get.

It was a 100% circumstantial evidence that put away Scott Peterson.

Google his name for tons of info.
 
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