Judge Chides Lawyers Fighting Over Firm Employment in Wage Case

Numerous factual disputes prevent early resolution of allegations that a firm hired a lawyer as an employee, not a contractor, when they teamed up on a case, with the judge chastising both sides for unprofessional behavior.

The nature of the parties’ working relationship is both “vigorously disputed and the crux of this case,” the US District Court for the District of Colorado said.

The defendants—including Denver-based Scheid Cleveland LLC—moved for summary judgment based on the independent contractor argument, but factual disputes leave room for a jury to determine the lawyer was the firm’s employee, Judge Nina Wang‘s Thursday opinion ...