Wage & Hour Litigation and Management Florida

Wage and hour collective and class litigation continues to dominate employment-related lawsuit filings in federal court in Florida, similar to its red hot status around the country and in large states, like California.  Despite nearly two decades of such litigation activity and increasing employer sophistication with compliance, new and novel issues continue to emerge in terms of litigation and compliance, presenting challenges for even seasoned employment law practitioners, corporate counsel and human resources personnel.  The consistently changing legal landscape of wage and hour litigation requires that counsel for employees and employers alike keep abreast of the most recent developments in the law.  Hot issues include the growing focus on exemptions for commissioned employees working in retail or service establishments (the so-called 7(i) exemption), developments in who is an employee versus an independent contractor, and who employs such workers, and continued evolution in the understanding of tips and tip pooling arrangements.  This program will provide participants with an update on these developments and advice on litigation and compliance, a view on wage and hour issues from the California perspective, where any multi-state employer must remain up-to-date, and insights on settling collective and class actions given the evolving and increasingly active role of the judiciary in managing the resolution of these claims. The program is co-chaired by Loren Donnell of Burr & Smith, LLP and Reed Russell of Phelps Dunbar, LLP.

Agenda
8:30 - 9:00	Registration & Continental Breakfast
9:00 - 9:20	Opening remarks and Discussion of New Developments - Program Chairs Reed Russel and Loren Donnell
9:20 - 10:20	7i Exemptions for Commissioned Employees Jennifer Williams, Cozen O’Connor Angeli Murthy, Morgan & Morgan, P.A.
10:35 - 11:45	Joint Employer/Independant Contractor Issues Deirdre Aaron, Outten & Golden, LLP Erin Malone, Phelps Dunbar
	Lunch - On Your Own
1:00 - 2:00	The California Perspective Timothy J. Long, Orrick
2:00 - 3:00	Tip Pooling (with an 11th Cir/FL Focus) Hillary Schwab, Fair Work P.C. Tamra Givens, Burr & Smith, LLP Carol A. Field, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
3:15 - 4:25	Tips and Ethical considerations in settling class and representative actions, and Reaching Settlement a Court will Approve (including Confidentiality and Broad Releases) Michael Tompkins, Leeds Brown Law, P.C. Day Peake, Phelps Dunbar J. Michael Sutherland, Simpluris, Inc.
4:25 - 4:30	Program Wrap Up
program concludes

Faculty
Loren Donnell, Burr & Smith, LLP
Reed Russell, Phelps Dunbar, LLP
Timothy J. Long, Orrick
Tamra Givens, Burr & Smith, LLP
Deirdre Aaron, Outten & Golden, LLP
Erin Malone, Phelps Dunbar, LLP
Michael Tompkins, Leeds Brown Law, P.C.
Day Peake, Phelps Dunbar, LLP
Carol A. Field, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Jennifer Williams, Cozen O’Connor
Hillary Schwab, Fair Work P.C.
Angeli Murthy, Morgan & Morgan, P.A.
J. Michael Sutherland, Simpluris, Inc.

This program is approved for 6.5 hrs  Florida CLE (1703046N) with 6.5 hrs of Labor and Employment Law Certification Credit.

Bridgeport is a State Bar of CA provider of MCLE (Provider 11872) This program offers 6 hrs of MCLE. Bridgeport will assist attorneys from outside CA obtain CLE in accordance with the rules of their state.