Frank J. Saibert, a partner and chair of Ungaretti & Harris’ labor and employment group, has been practicing since 1983.
What do you find the most interesting about your practice?
I’m a management side labor and employment lawyer. Nothing is more interesting then finding an aggressive, innovative solution to a difficult client problem.
A few years ago, an anesthesiologist sued our client, a truck rental business, for national origin discrimination, alleging that the company would not rent to him because he was of Indian decent. During his deposition, the doctor overplayed his hand, going on and on about how our client caused him so much emotional distress that now he could not properly perform his job and that he was “distracted” and “jittery” in the operating room. Rather than going through the rest of what would have been lengthy discovery and an expensive summary judgment motion, we inquired of the plaintiff whether his then employer knew about his “distraction” and “jitters.” The doctor dropped his case and we saved the client a fair amount of money.
What makes a good lawyer?
Many things. Good advocacy. Good legal writing. Timely responses to client inquiries. Staying up-to-the-minute current on legal developments.
But the most important component for attorney success is the ability to understand the client’s problem, from the client’s business perspective, and to be able to fashion a cost-effective solution. Well-written briefs are terrific and often necessary, but the good lawyer will short-circuit the litigation entirely, where possible.
What is the biggest legal news right now, and what is its impact?
Obviously, the tanking economy. In labor and employment law, that means substantially more client counseling on the state and federal Worker Adjustment And Retraining Notification Act (“WARN”) laws, impact analysis on layoffs to ensure no age, gender, or other discrimination, drafting severance agreements, non-competition agreement enforcement and handling the inevitable litigation that arises when so many people lose their jobs. While we have a lot of recession-related work, it is a very sad situation in human terms.
