In O’Connor v. Oakhurst Dairy, the First Circuit overruled a lower court and held that a group of drivers for a dairy company were collectively owed millions of dollars in overtime pay, all over a missing Oxford comma.1 In a list of three or more items—for example, bacon, egg, and cheese—the Oxford comma is the…
Author: Ellen Horne
Tax Uncertainty for Businesses After the Regulatory Freeze
President Trump’s new executive leadership is likely to bring increasing uncertainty for businesses in the area of tax law as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) struggles to make sense of the reach and intent of some of the President’s recent orders on federal rulemaking. In one of his first major acts after taking office, President…
Rule 5.4 and the Chance that American Law Firms Will Eventually Go Public
Currently, every jurisdiction in the United States prohibits public ownership of law firms.1 Though each state is free to adopt its own ethical rules, most base their ethical rules on the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct, which prohibit profit sharing with non-lawyers in Rule 5.4.2 The only exception is that in Washington,…
Minimum Wage in the Minor Leagues: Is Minor League Baseball Exempt from the Requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act?
Major League Baseball (MLB) is currently defending itself in a lawsuit brought by former Minor League baseball players.1 The plaintiffs allege, among other things, that the MLB has violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by failing to pay Minor League players minimum wage and overtime pay.2 Currently, every MLB team has at least…