Notice Period Databases

[EmplawmentLaw]

How reliable are the various notice period databases?

Anyone know if plaintiff and management-side lawyers regularly use them? In-house counsel? 

Edited November 16, 2023 by EmplawmentLaw

[Jaggers]

They are reliable in that they are actual cases that have been decided and are collected and summarized in one place. They're not extremely helpful for settling cases because everybody knows roughly what the right notice period is anyways, and written decisions tell you very little about what your specific case should settle for.

Some weird plaintiff-side lawyers still attach a print-out from the databases to their demand letters. I haven't personally consulted the databases in a decade at least.

[NoBoredReport]

On the plaintiff side, I sometimes use databases to identify cases quickly to plug into demand letters. I can't imagine ever attaching a printout from one to a letter as if it were suggestive of anything though. 

As Jaggers said, with competent counsel, there should be a sense on both sides about what a reasonable range for notice is in a given case. 

[EmplawmentLaw]

2 hours ago, Jaggers said:

They are reliable in that they are actual cases that have been decided and are collected and summarized in one place. They're not extremely helpful for settling cases because everybody knows roughly what the right notice period is anyways, and written decisions tell you very little about what your specific case should settle for.

Some weird plaintiff-side lawyers still attach a print-out from the databases to their demand letters. I haven't personally consulted the databases in a decade at least.

I see.

My assumption was that they're regularly used at later stages of litigation, particularly when drafting written submissions (e.g. mediation briefs, motion factums, trial briefs, etc.). But, then again, I guess most cases settle earlier rather than later.

Edited November 17, 2023 by EmplawmentLaw

[Zarathustra]

They are not super useful, maybe for cases with bizarre facts. 

[Bob Jones]

On 11/16/2023 at 4:29 PM, EmplawmentLaw said:

How reliable are the various notice period databases?

Anyone know if plaintiff and management-side lawyers regularly use them? In-house counsel? 

They’re helpful and useful, but don’t blindly rely on them. Be sure to read up on a particular set of cases you want to rely on, to confirm the Bardals/facts match. 
 

Wrongful Dismissal Database is probably the most seamless and easy to use. Not sure how often the database is updated though. There’s another one from Blue J which is more comprehensive, but more annoying to use. I think Stacey Ball has one baked into his WestLaw materials. 
 

They’re helpful and don’t shy away from it, but don’t need to live by it either. 

On 11/17/2023 at 4:44 PM, EmplawmentLaw said:

I see.

My assumption was that they're regularly used at later stages of litigation, particularly when drafting written submissions (e.g. mediation briefs, motion factums, trial briefs, etc.). But, then again, I guess most cases settle earlier rather than later.

I’ve used them in demand letters and mediation briefs, as needed. Sometimes facta too. But I wouldn’t just copy and paste the database, I would use the database to filter out the cases that support my case, and then build my own table with half a dozen or so supportive cases.