Georgia In-House Counsel for Small Businesses

Prior to forming Martin & Martin, attorneys Kimberly Martin and Tom Martin, both had significant experience on the employer’s side of legal matters. Tom’s prior experience included 28 years as a senior executive for health care corporations, including CEO of three of the largest psychiatric hospitals in the nation at the time. Kimberly’s prior legal experience included working for large law firms representing corporations in all areas of employment and wage & hour law. In the early years of their law firm, they began to see the vital need of day-to-day legal services for small businesses that were reasonably priced. Too many times they have received a telephone call from a small business who thought they could not afford legal services so they attempted to handle an issue on their own only to find themselves in a situation where their company was now on the line.

While Kimberly and Tom represent a select number of small businesses in litigation, the costs and fees associated with litigation, although reasonably priced, can be financially devastating to a small business, especially a start-up. Even when a company is successful in litigation, it can have a significant impact on the financial well-being of a small business. Therefore, the idea of Georgia In-House Counsel, a division of Martin & Martin, was born. The goal is to provide Martin & Martin’s small business clients with “in-house counsel” representation to help prevent lawsuits and allow their clients to talk through a potential legal issue at a moment’s notice.

In 2022, Martin & Martin began “banking” their sample employment and wage & hour policies, forms, handbooks, and practice guides in Resource Libraries to allow small businesses unlimited access to all the sample policies, forms, handbooks, and practice guides that they need to stay compliant with federal and state employment and wage & hour laws. Why are employment policies important to small businesses?

Their gameplan for the select small businesses that Martin & Martin represents includes:

Reasonably priced monthly retainers, reduced hourly rates, or flat fee rates so their clients will not hesitate to contact them.

Access to Resource Libraries that include:

Employment and wage & hour law policies/company handbooks;

Employment and wage & hour forms; and

Employment and wage & hour law practice guides.

Employment and Wage & Hour Law Training.

Kimberly is passionate about ensuring that the firm’s small business clients are properly trained on relevant areas of employment and wage & hour laws. This means that owners, managers, supervisors, and HR personnel, if any, are properly trained in sexual harassment complaints and investigations, discrimination, retaliation, reasonable accommodations, FLSA classification determinations, restrictive covenants, trade secrets, EEOC responses, and all aspects of federal and state employment law risk reduction. Kimberly conducts short, to the point, courses via video recording, on-line via ZOOM, and if requested, in-person. Their small business clients stop worrying about one misstep by an employee that puts the entire business in jeopardy.

Included with the training, Kimberly provides a written reference guide and summary of the laws and regulations along with sample policies, agreements, letters, etc. The courses also include a discussion of the most recent court opinions and how they impact small businesses.

Current Courses Include:

1. Restrictive Covenants & Trade Secrets (Noncompete, Nonsolicitation, and Nondisclosure), including Sample Agreements
2. Sexual Harassment, including Sample Sexual Harassment Policy & Investigation Checklist;
3. Discrimination & Retaliation Pursuant to Title VII, PDA, EPA & ADEA, including Sample Antidiscrimination & Antiretaliation Policies;
4. The EEOC: Responding to an EEOC Charge of Discrimination/Retaliation, including Sample Statement of Position;
5. Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including Sample Policies and Forms;
6. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), including How to Conduct Job Overtime Classification Audits and FLSA Reference Guide; and
7. In-House Counsel, a Condensed, but Through Overview of Relevant Georgia and Federal Employment Laws, including Sample Policies and Agreements.

For information on course schedule or setting up training specific for your business, or if you have any questions about Martin & Martin’s Georgia Small Business Employment Law Training Group for Risk Reduction and Defense, please contact Kimberly Martin at 404.313.5538 or kimberlymartinlaw@gmail.com. Also, if you would like a free copy of Martin & Martin’s Quick Reference Guide to Georgia and Federal Employment Laws, please contact the firm.