Lemon Law Tips for the Office

Have you ever heard of the Lemon Law? No? Sounds funny? How about a Lemon Lawyer? Bet that sounds even funnier although some may deem it downright appropriate where some lawyers are concerned. You will recall my earlier post “What’s Your Specialty”, well never fear if there is a market, there is a lawyer ready, willing and able to work it. The Lemon Law actually refers to legislation adopted to address that growing area of scam artistry in the auto industry and other industries to deceive consumers and yes there are lawyers who specialize in this field.

If you visit the Lemon Law website you will see these Lemon Law Tips to avoid being scammed which are paraphrased below:

1. Keep a Copy of your vehicle documentation including that on its history.
2. Take Written Notes of all conversations you have with dealers and repair technicians regarding your vehicle, including date, time and content.
3. Ask about Technical Service Bulletins as to defects or necessary repairs in certain models. Here I add DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!
4. Prepare a Timeline setting out the date and list of repair orders and days out of service.
5. Do Not be Discouraged by those (including dealer or repairman) who may play down the significance of your problems and discourage you from seeking a remedy. Seek advice from an attorney with knowledge of the lemon law – a lemon lawyer.

Now I thought that this was some pretty good advice. Moreover it seemed that if these instructions were to be applied to other situations some of us could get relief for experiences suffered at the hands of another kind of worthless or bogus product.

For example young associate attorneys employed in stodgy BigLaw firms might benefit from these tips resulting in avoidable lawsuits or quick settlements if they were to:

1. Keep a Copy of all documentation relating to their employment, evaluation and any correspondence regarding assurances given by the employers who sought to entice (bait) them into coming to the firm.
2. Take Written Notes of all conversations held with partners, managers, secretaries, mentors and even other associates regarding their job and all tasks assigned including dates, time and content.
3. Ask about Technical Service Bulletins as to any previous transgressions by partners or any breaches committed by the firm as regards employee relations issues such as discrimination, bias and also aspects of professional misconduct. Again DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!
4. Prepare a Timeline setting out the date, times and tasks designed to pick up the slack for partners or other staff members. This is important as partners and others have been known to claim credit when it is not due.
5. Do Not be Discouraged by those (including partners or fixers) who may play down the significance of your problems and discourage you from seeking a remedy. Seek advice from an attorney with specialized knowledge – not the lemon law this time – labor law would be a better bet - even though they may need to have some knowledge of lemons (deceptive lawyers) of a sort.

For those of you who think you'd be better off filling out timesheets, remember there are others who may be using similar tips/tricks and they may be used against you.

Esoteric legal phrase:

Scope of employment - actions of an employee which further the business of the employer and are not personal business, which becomes the test as to whether an employer is liable for damages due to such actions

Source: Power of Attorney
Lemon Law America