Source: ABA Journal Top Stories An Australian judge has ordered the band Men at Work to pay royalties to a music publisher for copying ”Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree” in a hit song from the 1980s. Larrikin Music had sought 60 percent of the royalties from the song “Down Under,” but was awarded… [Continue Reading]

Source: ABA Journal Top Stories An increasing number of corporate law departments are hiring contract lawyers and sending them more projects, according to two principals with Pennsylvania legal staffing firms. James LaRosa, an owner of JuriStaff in Philadelphia, told the Legal Intelligencer that legal departments are hiring contract lawyers for stints of six months to… [Continue Reading]

Source: ABA Journal Top Stories Things appeared to be looking up for law firm employees in May, when initial reports indicated an increase of 300 jobs in the legal sector. But now the news is gloomier. In June, the legal sector lost 3,900 jobs, the American Lawyer says, relying on the latest report from the… [Continue Reading]

Source: Federal Employment Law Articles The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a pro-employer decision that addresses two key issues concerning arbitration and the enforceability of labor contracts. The Court’s decision in Granite Rock Company v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters et al., No. 08-1214, stemmed from a lawsuit brought by the employer against a local union… [Continue Reading]

Source: Federal Employment Law Articles An increasing number of federal Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuits and U.S. Labor Department investigations include claims based upon the employer’s deducting meal periods from non-exempt employees’ recorded worktimes. Typically, the employees did not clock out-and-in to reflect the mealtime they took. Instead, the employers automatically deducted the full, scheduled… [Continue Reading]

Source: Federal Employment Law Articles The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has determined that an alleged harasser who makes gender-specific slurs and comments can create a hostile work environment for a female employee, even though the harasser is an “Equal Opportunity Harasser” who makes sexually offensive remarks to “anybody, any time.” EEOC v. Fairbrook… [Continue Reading]

Source: China Law Blog Excellent piece by Modern Lei Feng, entitled, “Whither Chinese Soccer?” on why China is unable to field a world class soccer team. MLF attributes China’s soccer shortcomings to six things, including the following two: The Education System.  ”The dog eat dog nature of the Chinese education system is unbelievable. From a young… [Continue Reading]

Source: China Law Blog Excellent piece by Modern Lei Feng, entitled, “Whither Chinese Soccer?” on why China is unable to field a world class soccer team. MLF attributes China’s soccer shortcomings to six things, including the following two: The Education System.  ”The dog eat dog nature of the Chinese education system is unbelievable. From a young… [Continue Reading]