Employers take notice — the US Department of Labor recently announced its "Bridge To Justice" program, in which it has allied itself with the American Bar Association to farm out Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") (pdf) and Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") cases to private attorneys .  The goal, apparently, is to hook up employees — current and former — who have filed claims under either statute, with attorneys willing to take on such cases.     

This is sure to generate an enormous number of new cases, and the collaboration between the government and the private bar portends all sorts of new problems for employers.   Stay with us on this one.