Closely examine noncompete restrictionsA former employee recently sued MedMar Inc. and its related companies. The suit, Greenswag v MedMar Inc., pending in the Cook County Circuit Court, alleges the defendants made misrepresentations about the employment opportunity to induce him to sign a non-compete restriction.

I haven’t reviewed the complaint, but these sorts of claims are often unsuccessful.

Enforcing noncompete agreement A recent noncompete case from Minnesota offers a cautionary tale for employers and cause for celebration for employees.

The case, Safety Center, Inc. v. Stier, (11/6/17), involved an employer that ran a treatment center for special-needs sex offenders. The employer sought to enforce its noncompete agreement against a former program director (Stier).

The noncompete

overly broad noncompete restrictionsUsing a broad brush to draft noncompete agreements that are applied universally to a company’s workforce is increasingly coming under fire. And this exposes companies to unnecessary litigation risks, as well as legal fees associated with enforcement costs.

Employer Abuse of Noncompete Restrictions

A recent example of involves Law360 and its settlement with the New

Trade Secret Misappropriation DecisionsA lawsuit involving trade secret misappropriation recently brought to mind the definition of a “knee-jerk reaction;” an “automatic and unthinking” response.

Specifically, our law firm filed a lawsuit for breach of contract involving unpaid commissions and other claims on behalf of a former executive. In response, the former employer manufactured filed a counter-claim for trade

Handcuff InnovationThe Wall Street Journal, by Aruna Viswanatha, recently asked whether Noncompete Agreements Hobble Junior Employees. Spoiler alert — they do. According to the Journal:

Noncompete agreements—common in computing and engineering jobs, where proprietary technology can be at stake—are spreading to other industries and stretching further down the corporate ladder. Labor-law experts say some

ToolboxWhen it comes to post employment restrictions, non-compete agreements often get all the attention. In fact, such restrictions are a frequent subject of discussion on our law firm’s blog (Noncompete Restrictions: The First Line of Defense for Protecting the Company from Unfair Competition).

However, as explained below, a carefully drafted non-solicitation provision should

shutterstock_84499888Business involves competition. But not all competition is lawful. Two former employees found this out the hard way after a judge determined on May 22, 2015 that they had wrongfully started a competing business while they continued to work for their employer along with misappropriating trade secrets and engaging in other wrongful acts (Nedschroef