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August 2010
Congratulations to Andy Hollis for being recognized as one of Birmingham's 'Best Lawyers' for Personal Injury Litigation. The 2010 Edition of 'Best Lawyers' was featured in the Birmingham News on August 27, 2010.
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August 19, 2010
Birmingham, Alabama
For more information, contact Josh Wright at 324-3600
Yesterday, Josh Wright and Steve Couch of the law firm of Hollis, Wright & Harrington, P.C., and lawyers Heather Leonard and Allwin Horn filed a class and collective action lawsuit on behalf of firefighter Mike Carroll against the City of Birmingham and Mayor William Bell.
"As would be expected, Firemen are brave servants that protect citizens in our community daily. Mike Carroll is no exception," stated Josh Wright, an attorney for the case filed for Birmingham firemen. "He's taken on this claim alone, yet asked that the Court return back overtime to all firemen in the entire City." "That, to me, is what being brave is all about. I commend Mike for his actions and confidence to 'take it on the chin' for the good of the whole."
In part, the Complaint filed in open Court on August 18, 2010 states the following basic claims:
The FLSA overtime standard equals hours of work in excess of 40 in a week. However, the FLSA establishes a higher overtime standard for firefighters and law enforcement officers who are subject to Section 7(k) of the FLSA. Such employees are entitled to overtime only when they have surpassed 53 hours in a week or 212 hours in a 28 day cycle. This is advantageous for municipal employers who have workers, like policemen and firemen, who consistently work more than forty (40) hours in a week. The City is responsible for allowing employees, like Plaintiff, to contribute to his/her Pension Plan up to the hours of overtime, and to match pension contributions pursuant to the Pension Plan itself up to the time an employee hits overtime. As alleged, the City would be responsible for allowing pension contributions, and matching such contributions, until an employee has worked more than 212 hours in a 28 day cycle under 7(K).
As pled, the City unilaterally redefined its "overtime" policy for firemen in early 2009 to lower the overtime threshold from 53 hours a week to 40 hours a week. This in essence allowed the City to eliminate City employees' right to fund their Pension Plan and also eliminated the responsibility for the City to "match" pension contributions after 40 hours in a week or 160 hours in a month. It would have required The City, however, to pay overtime pay to firemen who now worked over 40 hours in a week or 160 hours in a month. Simply put: 40 hours in a week became "overtime." However, as alleged the City has not paid overtime for any hours over 40 hours for the firemen since its unilateral decision in early 2009, which benefited it in not having to fund pension contributions. This fact is true notwithstanding that The City lists all hours above 40 hours on a firemen's paystub as overtime.
"These firemen are working over 200 hours a month, and should be properly compensated for their time," stated Josh Wright, one of the attorneys that brought the class and collective action for the City of Birmingham firemen. "The city is attempting to have its cake, and eat it too. By changing the overtime threshold from 212 hours to 160 hours, the City does not have to pay pension matching contributions over 160 hours a month for each fireman. Pension contributions are made by employees, and matched by the City only up to overtime pay. However, as we have alleged, the City has also decided not to pay overtime over 160 hours for these employees. The City saves on pension funding above 160 hours, and also doesn't have to pay overtime pay to the firemen? You just cannot do that; this lawsuit is an attempt to stop this clear inequity and properly compensate our hard-working firemen," stated Wright.
At the same time these firemen are being cut overtime, the City is now attempting to cut their pay by as much as 20% per month in the coming weeks. "The lawsuit comes at a perfect time to highlight the City's poor decision making related to how it compensates its firemen," stated Heather Leonard, another attorney for Mike Carroll.
In a collective action claim, the suit allows other firemen to join the action if they desire to recover too.
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June 19, 2010
The Firm would like to congratulate our Managing Partner, Josh Wright for being elected as the 2010 Treasurer for the Alabama Association for Justice (formerly the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association). Again, Congratulations Josh...we know you'll do a fantastic job!!
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May 2010
The Firm is proud to announce that Andy Hollis and Josh Wright have both been recognized in the 2010 edition of Alabama Super Lawyers, an independent lawyer rating publication. The selections for Alabama Super lawyers are made by Law & Politics, a division of Key Professional Media, Inc. Each year, Law & Politics undertakes a rigorous multi-phase selection process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation of candidates by Law & Politics' attorney-led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area, and a good-standing and disciplinary check. Only five percent of the lawyers in the state are named by Super Lawyers. Congratulations to Andy and Josh for once again earning this prestigious recognition!
In addition, both Andy Hollis and Josh Wright have also been awarded a rating of AV Preeminent by the Martindale Hubbell Peer Review, the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards. The AV Preeminent Rating is the "pinnacle of professional excellence earned through a strenuous Peer Review Rating process that is managed and monitored by the world's most trusted legal resource."
Josh Wright has also been recognized as one of the Top Attorneys in Alabama in the May 2010 edition of Business Alabama Magazine.
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March 2010
Congratulations goes out to both Andy Hollis and Josh Wright, who were chosen as part of B-Metro's list of Top Lawyers in Birmingham, featured in their March 2010 issue.
http://www.b-metro.com/main.asp?page=1480
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September 15, 2009
Hollis, Wright and Harrington has finally gone live on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace! As more and more people become members of at least one, if not all, of these social networking sites, how could we resist this opportunity to keep our clients, friends, and extended HWH family as up-to-date as possible on the happenings of the firm. Followers of any of these sites will be able to receive updates and notifications of what goes on here at Hollis, Wright and Harrington. Below you will find direct links to the firm's pages at Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. We welcome everyone to join us on any or all of these sites to stay "in the know" on Hollis, Wright and Harrington.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hollis_wright
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/holliswrightandharrington
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PRESS RELEASE - August 25, 2009-- $3.76 million verdict for Josh Wright
On July 29, 2007, Derrick Marshall, a 19 year old college athlete, drowned at a family reunion at the Roadway Inn on the Eastern Blvd. in Montgomery, Alabama. The Montgomery County Health Department had previously shut the pool down because the pool was "too cloudy." It was alleged that the hotel provided access to the pool notwithstanding the County mandate to shut down, and failed to have appropriate safety equipment to save Derrick Marshall.
Derrick Marshall drowned in the deep end and was unable to be found for 10-12 minutes due to the cloudiness of the pool. Although Derrick did not die immediately after the event, he was left in a permanent vegetative state for over four (4) months. He later died as a result of his injuries in Jackson Hospital.
A lawsuit was filed on September 7, 2007 against the hotel for negligence and wantonness. A general manager was later added as a party. On August 25, 2009, a verdict was rendered in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County in favor of the Estate of Derrick Marshall. The verdict was in the amount of $3,766,000.
"This verdict today sends a powerful message to this hotel, its management and ownership, as well as other public hotels around the State of Alabama," said Josh Wright of the law firm of Hollis, Wright & Harrington in Birmingham, Alabama. "If you fail to follow reasonable standards in the operation and management of public pools, you have to answer to an Alabama jury. This is a terrible tragedy that was very preventable as we see it," Wright said.
"This verdict is just and will help the Marshall family gain some closure to a terrible chapter in their lives," said Steve Couch with the law firm of Hollis, Wright & Harrington. "This was a very strong family that I was honored to work with."
The mother of Derrick Marshall, Debra Miller, indicated "We are very pleased with the result from this jury. After over two years of legal work, it was time for this decision by the jury. We thank the jury and judge for their hard work in rendering such a just verdict for my son Derrick. We hope this verdict will deter others in the future."
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March 2009
Congratulations to Kathryn Harrington for being chosen as one of Birmingham Magazine's "Top Attorneys", featured in their March 2009 issue. The Firm is also featured in this issue with a two-page spread in {Portfolio}, a special promotional section featuring profiles of premier law firms in the Birmingham region.
http://www.shawanderson.com/BirminghamMagazine.pdf
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June 2008
On June 17, 2008, Hollis, Wright & Harrington and Charles E. Wilson, a Jefferson County resident, filed a class action lawsuit to recover, among other things, exorbitant brokerage fees that were paid to brokers and investment banks around the country by Jefferson County. Some of these fees were six times the normally accepted rate, which as alleged could total as much as $100 Million. Named in the suit are Jefferson County Commissioners, various local and national investment banks, and multiple brokers that did business with the Jefferson County. It is alleged that the brokerage fees, in addition to other costs and expenses, caused Jefferson County Residents' water and sewer costs to increase by over 300%.
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