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On September 13, 2016, a New Jersey judge certified a Fair Labor Standards Act collective action and three state class actions against Home Depot Inc. brought by assistant store managers claiming they were shorted on wages and overtime, rejecting the retailer's argument the supervisors were not similarly treated.  Represented by Locks Law Firm attorneys Michael A. Galpern and Andrew P. Bell argued Office Depot’s method for paying overtime violated federal and state wage and hour laws and further that there was commonality within the group to allow for certification.  For the full article, see the attached.

Marc Weingarten, a Partner at Locks Law and expert on Legionnaire's Disease, has written an article about the disease's first outbreak, which took place forty years ago today. Published by Philly.com, the article recounts the initial investigation into the then-mysterious disease while summarizing what we know about it today.

The full piece can be read here.

Partner Marc P. Weingarten has been re-appointed to a Hearing Committee as part of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. The Hearing Committees are composed of three-member panels. The Committees hear cases involving lawyers who have been charged with violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct, which set the ethical standards for all lawyers in the state of Pennsylvania.  Hearing Committees are responsible for making recommendations to the Disciplinary Board.  The Disciplinary Board uses the information and recommendations received to make a final recommendation to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which is then responsible for a decision in each case.

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In this month’s issue (June 2016) of PAJustice News, I discuss the importance of the case Hatcher v. SCM Group North America, Inc. as it relates to the decision in Tincher vs. OmegaFlex, Inc.  Specifically in the Hatcher case, the question of failure to warn would be tested and ultimately used a Mackowick analysis to rule that the threshold question of the adequacy of the warning was not an issue sufficient to submit to the jury.  To read the full analysis, please see the attached article. Products Liability - Hatcher v. SCM Group North America, Inc.

Janet Lewis, Locks Law's Director of Sports & Athlete Relations, has recently published an article on sports concussions with the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Acknowledging the recent rise in public awareness of concussions, Lewis tackles some pervasive concussion myths and asserts the importance of properly protecting athletes from these life-altering injuries. Her full article can be read here.

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement annually, state-by-state.

This year, partners Marc. P. Weingarten (Pennsylvania, Super Lawyer – Personal Injury Products Liability, Plaintiff), Alfred M. Anthony (New Jersey, Super Lawyer - Class Action and Mass Torts), Janet Walsh (NY Metro, Personal Injury - Products), and Andrew P. Bell (NY Metro, Super Lawyer - Class Actions) have named to the 2016 Super Lawyers List.  Mr. Bell has been honored since 2012 and Mr. Anthony has received this honor since 2008.  Mr. Weingarten has been named to this prestigious list continuously since 2005.

As part of his ongoing series with youth sports website, Sporting Kid Live, Locks Law attorney David Langfitt has contributed another article clarifying some of the complicated legal issues surrounding youth sports. This time, David discussed the ubiquitous commercial sponsors of youth sports teams.

Click here to read the full piece. David Langfitt's past pieces on youth sports and the law can be read here.

Leon Carelli, Chief Technology Officer at Locks Law Firm, was quoted today in Forbes, offering his advice on how companies can improve their security practices. Read the full article here.

Leon Carelli, Chief Technology Officer at The Locks Law Firm, has been quoted in Forbes. Alongside a group of other tech experts, Carelli was asked how businesses are making the Internet of Things (IoT) easier to adopt.

Responding to this question, Carelli said, "If we have learned anything from the development of networks and protocols over the past three decades it should be that standards are not just important, they are essential. Smart, forward-thinking companies are already beginning to coalesce around standards like Z-Wave or ZigBee. By adopting standard protocols, product development teams can focus on strong feature sets rather than compatibility."

Today the Third Circuit court of Appeals upheld Judge Brody's opinion approving the Players settlement with the NFL in the concussion litigation.  The three judge panel agreed with Judge Brody that the settlement agreement was fair, adequate, and reasonable under the law and made no changes to the previous agreement.

We expect that the objectors (who appealed in the first place) will appeal this Opinion to the Supreme Court of the United States.  If they appeal, two things could happen.