UTU Legal Department

All Rail Members - United States

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

I am writing in response to questions that have come up from time to time concerning lawyers who handle cases under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), and their relationship to the union.

The right of railroad unions to appoint specific attorneys as "designated counsel" for the purpose of advising and representing members on matters pertaining to their rights under FELA has been affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court, most notably in Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Virginia State Bar in 1964, and again in 1971 in United Transportation Union V. Michigan State Bar. With that right comes the union's obligation to encourage its members to use the services of those attorneys whom it has designated by virtue of their competency in FELA law.

Likewise, UTU designated legal counsel have an obligation to adhere to operating guidelines that we establish. Under our guidelines, for example, approved attorneys are limited to charging our members a lower fee than is customary in other personal injury cases. They are also expected to render free advice to our members concerning their injury cases and other legal matters related to railroad employment.

Approved attorneys are also required to make themselves available to attend official union meetings to answer questions about FELA and explain to our members their legal rights. With respect to this obligation, only attorneys approved by UTU should be permitted to attend union meetings, and only then when they have been invited by the appropriate UTU local officer.

It is not uncommon for designated legal counsel to sponsor social functions. Review of recent documents and statements by officials of the Justice Department and Labor Department indicates that designated legal counsel are within their legal rights in doing so, as long as the function is not designed to benefit any specific members of the union politically or otherwise.

Our designated legal counsel, therefore, are given both rights and obligations that do not apply to non-designated attorneys. The rule of reason, of course, should always be applied. For example, we should neither expect, nor accept inordinately lavish entertainment paid for by designated attorneys which might give the impression of impropriety.

Moreover, to further state the obvious, there are some actions that should never occur with any law firm, designated or not. Care should always be taken, for instance, to avoid involvement by outside lawyers in our organization’s politics, and no payments or fee splitting should ever be made to union officials or to our members in consideration for referring cases. These actions are illegal under federal law and, in some cases, state laws.

Our program of designating approved legal counsel exists for a purpose -- to help our members receive well qualified legal assistance at a fair price. We owe it to our members and to our designated legal counsel to keep the system operating properly and as an efficient means of achieving its purpose.