Harper Gerlach is a new law firm composed of attorneys G. Thomas Harper and Gregg Gerlach. They opened their Southpointe office in early September.
IN WHAT AREAS DO
THEY PRACTICE?
Employment, labor, and wage and hour law. “We do collective bargaining agreements, union organizing, contract negotiations and arbitrations — all representing management,” said Harper. “A lot of issues come up over even small issues on the job. Arbitration is a way they settle disputes.”
ARBITRATION FEVER
“Arbitration agreements are in a big boom on the employment side right now,” said Harper. “It’s a developing area,” added Gerlach. “Employers are deciding that, as much as they try to resolve disputes, misunderstandings are inevitable.”
HOW IS THIS BETTER THAN GOING TO COURT?
“Litigation can be very confrontational and very expensive for both sides,” said Gerlach. “It puts the employee through a roller coaster. If the employee still works for the company, the situation is difficult. Arbitration is an apparatus to solve matters quickly, finally and relatively inexpensively. Sometimes it saves the relationship, if the employee is still with the company.”
WHAT IS WAGE AND
HOUR LAW?
“It is the type of labor law that deals with minimum wage and overtime,” said Gerlach. “That and sexual harassment are probably the two hottest areas of law right now. Employers have responded well in implementing policies. I think in the next five or 10 years the biggest emphasis will be on preventing wage and hour violations. It also deals with child labor and migrant workers issues.”
WHAT DOES EMPLOYMENT LAW COVER?
“Harassment, arbitration agreements, drug testing, personnel policies, company practices and family medical leave.”
WHY ZERO IN ON
THESE FIELDS?
“I got into it because my uncle was a labor lawyer in Atlanta,” said Harper.
“I was attracted to union disputes,” added Gerlach. “Something attracted me to private sector employers and private sector unions working out their differences. Once I spent all those years studying labor relations, when I went to law school, I thought, ‘There’s no sense in becoming a criminal defense lawyer.’ So, I just chose labor and employment law.”
EDUCATION
Gerlach [pronounced grr-lack] earned his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and his law degree from the University of Houston. Atlanta-born Harper graduated from Furman University in South Carolina and received his law degree from the University of Georgia.
WHAT BROUGHT THEM
TO TOWN?
“I’ve been in Jacksonville since 1981,” said Harper. “Haynsworth [Haynsworth, Baldwin, Johnson & Greaves] had merged with a labor lawyer here. I came down to make that merger happen.”
“My wife brought me down here for her residency,” said Gerlach, native to upstate New York. “She’s now a physician at Mayo.”
WHERE DID HARPER GAIN HIS EXPERIENCE?
“For me, it’s real easy,” said Harper. “I spent 30 years with the Haynsworth firm [based out of South Carolina] and stayed until last August when Gregg and I started this firm. I thought that was a good time to make the change to having our own operation. They have since closed their office [in Jacksonville].”
HOW DID THE
PARTNERS MEET?
They were co-workers; Gerlach was also an attorney at Haynsworth, Baldwin, et al. Before that firm, Gerlach was on the payroll of Bruckner & Sykes in Houston. His first position was with L.G. Clinton Jr. & Associates.
WHY HANG OUT THEIR OWN SHINGLE?
“I left for the independence, flexibility and [less office] politics,” said Harper. “Another reason I wanted to have our own firm was to have more opportunities to give back to the community. I have a desire to grow the practice where we can help more charitable groups and non-profits.”
WHAT CHANGES HAVE
YOU WITNESSED?
“A lot of employment law has been passed in the last 20 or so years,” said Harper. “There was the Civil Rights Act of 1964. OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Act] had been passed. The Republican administrations passed COBRA and the Polygraph Protection Act, then the Americans with Disabilities Act., followed by the Civil Rights Act of 1991.”
DOESN’T THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR HANDLE THESE ISSUES?
“Their wage/hour division is charged with investigating and enforcing violations, but, due to their size limitations, they can only handle complaints,” said Gerlach. “An individual does not have an obligation to go to the federal government. They can go to a lawyer.”
“A lot of people assume that, with those that are salaried, you don’t need to worry about paying them overtime,” said Harper. “Unless they meet other tests under the wage/hour law, he’s still entitled to overtime.”
WHAT’S UNIQUE ABOUT THEIR PRACTICE?
“Oftentimes in employment law, we get to have input into what happens,” said Harper. “Most clients go to a lawyer’s office and tell them what happened. The facts have already passed. Oftentimes in our practice, we’ll talk with the employers before they fire someone or give a warning. That gives us a chance to encourage them to do the right thing. Sometimes employers are very emotional; their attitude is, ‘They need to be fired for that.’ We can do a lot of good by encouraging fair treatment and progressive discipline because most of our employment laws lead to jury trials.”
WHAT’S WRONG WITH A TRIAL BY JURY?
“Juries have a clear bias in favor of the little guy,” said Harper. “There is a strong identification with the employee initially.”
ARE THESE SUITS BROUGHT ON DUE TO DELIBERATE VIOLATIONS?
“I wouldn’t say it comes from a lack of knowing what the law is,” said Harper.
“A lot of times they are personality issues or judgment issues. A conflict develops on the job.”
— by Monica Tsai