Article from Offit Kurman: Telebriefs - What is a Jury Trial Waiver and How Can It Help My Business?

3/22/17

In today’s workplace, it is imperative for employers to take steps to prevent litigation or to limit their financial liability should employees file lawsuits against them. However, even the best of plans cannot prevent litigation from occurring, which is why employers should consider including a Jury Trial Waiver in their onboarding process. Jury Trial Waivers are utilized to ensure that all employment-related disputes that are filed in court have to be decided by a judge, as opposed to a jury. Juries are more prone to be sympathetic to employees and to award unreasonably high verdicts, as opposed to those cases that are tried by a judge alone. Therefore, Jury Trial Waivers may serve as a deterrent to a Plaintiff’s attorney who might otherwise take a case where a jury would decide such case. For Jury Trial Waivers to be enforceable, they should be carefully written by experienced employment counsel. To learn more about these waivers and how to implement them in your workplace, listen to this week’s Telebrief here.

Also in this week’s Telebrief: President Trump’s plans for a new Parental/Family Leave Act and the state of the Department of Labor’s overtime rules revisions.

Interested in implementing a Jury Trial Waiver in your workplace or questions about this week’s Telebrief?

Contact Howard K. Kurman at hkurman@offitkurman.com or 410-209-6417.

About the Telebriefs®

The Telebriefs® are 30-minute, information-packed phone calls geared towards executives, HR directors, supervisors, managers, and business owners. Join Howard K. Kurman, as he discusses employment law developments occurring over the past two weeks that will most significantly impact employers nationwide. These twice-monthly phone calls are an easy way to stay current and compliant with the latest employment law developments that will significantly affect you and your company. The goal is to provide information and insights to help executives stay current with the latest workplace law developments and in front of trends, to enable proactive policy-making and management. Our guarantee: You will learn something useful, on every call!

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About the Presenter

Howard Kurman Casual-SmallHoward K. Kurman is an employment attorney. Mr. Kurman regularly counsels clients on all aspects of proactive employment/labor issues. He represents employers ranging in size from as small as 20 employees to those employers with geographically disparate locations consisting of over 4,000 employees. Mr. Kurman assures, through regular contact with his clients, that they promulgate and maintain the most effective employment policies that will, to the extent possible, minimize their legal exposure in today’s litigious workplace. Mr. Kurman offers advice on employee handbooks, employment agreements, and covenants not to compete as well as confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements. Previously, Mr. Kurman was the chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group.

You can connect with Offit Kurman via our Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn pages. You can also sign up to receive Law Matters, Offit Kurman’s monthly newsletter covering a diverse selection of legal and corporate thought leadership content.

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