Who Said Anything About Trial?

Will My Employment Case Go To Trial?

In my experience, many employees and employers are reluctant to retain a lawyer, because of a misconception that this means they will have to “go to trial”. As a result of this misconception, people who would really benefit from some legal advice, often go without it, sometimes with devastating consequences. In fact, in the employment law world, the truth is that almost no cases go to trial anymore. Probably less than 1% of employment issues that I am consulted about turn into matters that end up going to trial.

Generally, this is not because our courts are already overburdened, although that is a factor. Instead, it is because employment law is typically straightforward and uncontroversial. Most employment cases can be and are resolved through negotiation between lawyers.

When Is Going To Trial Necessary?

There are exceptional cases, often involving allegations like “just cause” (serious employee misconduct like theft, workplace violence, etc). Some – but not all – of these cases can take longer to resolve. However, these cases represent a small fraction of the total. In my experience, the lifespan of the majority of employment law matters is a couple of weeks to three or four months – not two years or more as is commonly believed. In turn, many many matters are resolved without any interaction with the court system of any kind. Again, while it is sometimes necessary to commence a formal action by filing papers with the court office, often this is not the case because a matter can be resolved informally through the exchange of correspondence or through dialogue between lawyers.

As noted, the reluctance to contact a lawyer because of the “going to trial” misconception, has caused harm to many people. For example, our firm has had to advise employers who contact us after dismissing an employee purportedly for “just cause”, that just cause does not exist and therefore the employer now faces substantial liability. In turn, we have had to advise employees who contact us after they have negotiated their own severance packages that they were entitled to considerably more – in some cases tens of thousands of dollars more – than they agreed to. In these situations it is often impossible to “turn the clock back” and the devastating consequences of these decisions were entirely avoidable had the party discussed the matter with us for a few minutes before proceeding.

If you have been terminated for “just cause” it is important to speak to an employment lawyer. For more information or to understand your situation better visit the Pocket Employment Lawyer to have your questions answered discreetly.