Back In the Real World

Although I have not yet looked up the requirements to be licensed as an avvocato, nor do I really understand what a "studio legale" is, I did fall in love, as have many others, with the beauty of Tuscany. But after slogging through six jillion e-mails, and an all day mediation of a sexual harassement case, I am slowly re-acclimating to the world of employment law. Not that it necessarily remains the same. An amazing lot can happen in just a short period it seems. The Texas legislature closed out their regular session and the legislation having the most impact on Texas employment law may well be the procedural changes in litigation contained in House Bill 4 , as opposed to any substantive legislation. If nothing else, because of the danger of imposition of attorneys fees for cases filed after January 1, 2004, it almost ensures a flood of litigation will be filed in December, 2003. And on the federal front, the United States Supeme Court in a case markedly devoid of any judicial activism, held that direct evidence is not required in mixed-motive cases brought under Title VII. The unaminous Desert Palace, Inc. v. Costa [pdf] decision could in fact spark a major uptick in discrimination litigation.