Liquidated Damages and Non-Competes

June 12, 2013 by

In many disputes over non-competition agreements, the litigation focuses on obtaining the temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction to stop the competition before the real damage is done.  However, in cases where preliminary injunctive relief cannot be obtained and/or is not appropriate (e.g., because the competition has already taken place and the damage has been [...]

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Florida Court Reverses Preliminary Injunction on Restrictive Covenant

April 24, 2013 by

If you have followed this blog, then you likely already know that restrictive covenants are legal and enforceable in Florida.  You should also know that – although enforceable – restrictive covenants are strictly construed both with regard to their specific wording and with regard to the restraints set forth in Florida Statutes § 542.335.  Because [...]

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Mass-Mailing To Public Employees Did Not Violate Non-Solicitation Agreement

April 17, 2013 by

A Florida court recently held a former employee’s “mass-mailing” to her former employer’s customers did not violate her non-solicitation agreement.  In Variable Annuity Life Insurance Co. v. Laeng, Docket No. 8:12-cv-2280-T-33MAP (M.D. Fla. Feb. 11, 2013), the employer, VALIC, marketed financial services to tax exempt organizations.  As a condition of her employment, the employee, Laeng, [...]

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Does the Alabama Trade Secrets Act Limit Remedies for Theft of Information?

April 10, 2013 by

Alabama enacted the Alabama Trade Secrets Act (the “ATSA”) in 1987.  However, since that time, there have been relatively few reported court decisions analyzing the impact of the ATSA on common law claims.  A federal district court in Alabama recently grappled with these issues.  Relying on interpretations of other states’ laws based on the Uniform [...]

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The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and Protecting Employer’s Electronic Data

March 29, 2013 by

The Southern District of New York recently joined a number of other jurisdictions in foreclosing one avenue of recovery for employers seeking to recover against employees who steal company information for competitors.  In Advanced Aerofoil Technologies, AG v. Todaro,  2013 WL 410873 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 30, 2013), the court ruled that the Computer Fraud and Abuse [...]

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Filed Under: Non-Compete Agreements, Non-Solicitation Agreement Tagged With: , ,

Live Events Agency Sues Former Employees And Independent Contractor For Breach Of Non-Solicitation Agreements

March 27, 2013 by

On March 18, 2013, TBA Global, LLC, a live events market and communications agency, sued LEO Events, LLC and several of its owners for breach of non-solicitation agreements and misappropriation of TBA’s trade secrets and confidential information.  TBA claims LEO’s owners are using confidential information they gained while working for TBA to solicit TBA’s clients, [...]

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Protecting Your Closely Held Business

March 6, 2013 by

A client recently came to me with a problem lawyers often hear: the client’s family-owned business needed to hire new employees to keep up with the growth. In particular, the company needed additional sales force and additional operators in the field. The problem was that in order to train and then oversee these new employees, [...]

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Filed Under: Non-Compete Agreements Tagged With: ,

Engineers Convicted for Theft of Trade Secrets

February 22, 2013 by

Two engineers were recently convicted under federal law for stealing trade secrets from Goodyear.  (United States v. Howley and Roberts, 2013 WL 399345 (Feb. 4, 2013 6th Cir.).)  Charles Roberts and Sean Howley worked as engineers for Wyko Tire Technology, a Tennessee Company.  Wyko supplied Goodyear with parts for tire-assembly machines.  Wyko also had an [...]

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Non-Compete Agreements Survive Labor Board Scrutiny — For Now

February 20, 2013 by

The National Labor Relations Act (the “NLRA”) has always applied to both unionized and non-unionized workplaces.  However, one of the priorities of President Obama’s appointees to the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) has been to maintain the NLRA’s relevance in today’s workplaces.  With union representation at historically low levels, this priority means making sure [...]

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Filed Under: Non-Compete Agreements

Analysis of a Winning Argument for Enforcing a Non-Compete Agreement at the Preliminary Injunction Stage

February 13, 2013 by

On December 18, 2012, the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee entered an Order granting an employer’s application for a preliminary injunction preventing its former employees from soliciting the employer’s customers. The Order is an excellent example of issues employers should focus on when arguing for the enforcement of non-compete agreements [...]

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