An appeals court on Friday appeared hesitant to establish a federal standard for defining the practice of law that could be used to weigh legal industry wage claims. But at least some members of a three-judge panel signaled that a former contract lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom may deserve a second chance in his overtime case against the firm.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard arguments Friday in a putative class action brought by contract lawyer David Lola under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Lola seeks to recover allegedly unpaid overtime wages for document review he conducted for Skadden.

Lola claims that the work was so monotonous that it didn't qualify as practicing law, and that his labor therefore fell outside an exemption for professionals under the FLSA's overtime requirements. U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan dismissed the case last September, finding that the FLSA exemption applied.