Courts Get Discovery Guidance for Federal Wage Cases

• Nonbinding protocols recommend best practices for initial disclosures by plaintiffs, defendants in wage and hour lawsuits

• Protocols may also help lawyers litigating in courts where they aren’t required

Federal judges have a new tool to help them manage wage and hour cases.

The judiciary’s research and education agency, the Federal Judicial Center, recently developed a set of protocols for plaintiffs and defendants in wage and hour cases to exchange information and documents early in litigation.

At least one federal court in Texas already has embraced the new guidelines.

“They seem to be working exactly as intended,” Judge Lee ...