A defamation claim can be a powerful tool for businesses to protect their reputations from false statements made by former customers or employees. There are many scenarios where asserting a defamation claim can be useful. A business may assert a defamation claim against a former employee or customer who published a false statement or…
Continue reading ›The Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) broadly prohibits businesses from engaging in deceptive practices and unfair methods of competition. Deceptive practices and unfair methods of competition can cover a wide variety of claims because unfair practices as defined broadly. “An unfair practice is one that offends established public policy and one that…
Continue reading ›It is no surprise that trade secrets must be secret to qualify as a trade secret. But what does not that mean? Statutes like Florida’s Uniform Trade Secret Act dictate that trade secrets must “derive[ ] independent economic value… from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other…
Continue reading ›A free market economic system like the one used throughout the United States requires competition because market forces of supply and demand control the system. Congress and Florida’s Legislature even enacted laws to promote competition and prevent restraints on trade and commerce. 15 U.S.C.A. § 1 (“Every contract, combination in the form of trust or…
Continue reading ›A corporation is a legal fiction because it can enter contracts and conduct business on its own behalf even though the corporation needs people to act for it. The purpose of the fiction is to limit the liability of the corporation’s shareholders, whether they are individuals or other companies. Roberts’ Fish Farm v. Spencer, 153…
Continue reading ›The Defend Trade Secrets Act and similar state statutes create a civil cause of action for misappropriating another’s trade secrets. 18 USC § 1836 (“An owner of a trade secret that is misappropriated may bring a civil action under this subsection if the trade secret is related to a product or service used in, or…
Continue reading ›It is of great importance that businesses protect their trade secrets because disclosure to competitors can have significant negative impact. Disclosure many even be ruinous. The Miami business litigation attorneys of the Mavrick Law Firm represent businesses and their owners in breach of contract litigation and related claims of fraud, non-compete agreement litigation, trade secret…
Continue reading ›A business purchaser often requires the seller to sign a non-compete provision as part of the sale. Purchasers usually require non-compete provisions to prevent the business seller from starting a new rival business that deprives the purchaser of the value of the assert he or she purchased. The same logic applies to the business’s employees.…
Continue reading ›A business that is unsure about its contractual rights may be able to assert a claim for declaratory judgment. Under Florida Statute § 86.011, courts may “render declaratory judgments on the existence, or nonexistence: (1) of any immunity, power, privilege or right; (2) of any fact upon which the existence of nonexistence of such immunity,…
Continue reading ›Under Florida law, employees have a duty of loyalty to their employers. The breadth of the duty of loyalty depends on whether the employee qualifies as a fiduciary under the law. High level employees, such as corporate officers and directors, hold a strict fiduciary duty of loyalty to a corporation. The fiduciary duty of loyalty…
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