GREAT 151 IDEA: Hire an Experienced Labor Attorney

“You will be assaulted, abused, or sued by an employee; it's only a question of when and how,” declared Robert Millman, a feisty labor attorney who now serves as chairman of the board of Littler Mendelson in Los Angeles.

“Small business owners, in particular, are being hit very hard by employment laws, even if they only have five employees,” said Millman, who has been defending and protecting companies from their angry, derisive employees for more than 30 years.

Business owners eagerly buy liability insurance to protect themselves from fires and floods, yet they don't spend time or money getting up to speed on employment laws. “The most dangerous thing you face in your small business is not a fire or your truck driver wiping out a family of six,” he said. “The most dangerous thing is one of your employees suing you.”

Although an employment liability insurance policy can prevent a lengthy legal battle from bankrupting your firm, you usually don't get to choose your own lawyers to represent you. And the policy may not cover all costs. (See Great Idea #47 about working with an independent insurance broker.)

Millman said far too many small business owners get terrible legal advice and end up spending $500,000 on a case that should have settled for $10,000. Most of the time the bad advice comes from attorneys who want to run up their bills.

His firm, with about 750 attorneys across the country, was a pioneer in training and education for employers. He said the scariest issue is workplace violence because you are liable if someone hurts or kills someone else at your business.

“There are so many telltale signs,” said Millman, adding that good employees rarely show up one day for work and go berserk. There is always a pattern of negative behavior and clear signals that employers must learn to spot. “A company is going to face severe liability if someone is sending out signals, and they don't do something about it,” warned Millman.

Contact Littler Mendelson at www.littler.com, (888) LITTLER [(888) 548-8537], or e-mail them at [email protected].