On March 24, 2016 the DOL’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) issued the so-called “persuader rule” that would have greatly inhibited the ability of employers to obtain legal advice in responding to union organizing campaigns. For nearly 50 years the DOL recognized that advice, including legal advice, is excluded from reporting under federal labor law. The new persuader rule would have forced lawyers and law firms that counsel a business on most labor relations matters to disclose not only their work with that client, but also all fees and arrangements for all clients for all labor-relations services. Several lawsuits were filed challenging this rule on statutory and First Amendment grounds. On June 27, 2016, a district court in Texas issued a preliminary injunction enjoining DOL from implementing the new rule. The district court then made that preliminary injunction permanent in November 2016, and DOL filed an appeal with the Fifth Circuit which remains pending.
DOL has now issued a new rule that rescinds the controversial Persuader Rule. Please join us for a status report regarding these developments, including a discussion of the new rule and how it may affect DOL’s authority in the future.
Featuring:
Christopher Murray, Shareholder, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart
Karen Harned, Executive Director, National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center
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