Plaintiffs often attempt to pursue punitive damages in litigation. Punitive damages are intended to punish reprehensible conduct by a defendant. Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc., 532 U.S. 424 (2001). Punitive damages can be attractive for plaintiffs because they can multiply compensatory damages thereby resulting in a much larger recovery. See Fla. Stat.…
Continue reading ›The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) rule banning most non-compete agreements continues to produce legal developments. Conflicting opinions were previously issued by a court in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas and by a court in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In Ryan LLC v. FTC, Case…
Continue reading ›If you replace a contract with another contract, is the original contract still enforceable? The answer to this question involves a contract principle called novation. Peter Mavrick is a Fort Lauderdale business litigation attorney. The Mavrick Law Firm represents businesses and their owners in breach of contract litigation and related claims of fraud, non-compete agreement…
Continue reading ›Under Florida contract law, integration clauses (also known as merger clauses) are important to clearly define the terms of a contract. An integration clause generally limits a contract’s terms to only those that are expressly contained within the written contract. See Vigortone AG Products, Inc. v. PM AG Products, Inc., 316 F. 3d 641 (7th…
Continue reading ›The Court of Appeals of Virginia recently reversed a massive verdict in a trade secret misappropriation case involving two business competitors. In Pegasystems, Inc. v. Appian Corporation, ___ S.E.2d. ____, 2024 WL 3571808 (Va. 2024), the jury returned a verdict of more than $2 billion, the largest trade secret verdict in Virginia history. However, the…
Continue reading ›Businesses often enter contracts with vendors, independent contractors, executives, employees, and others. But sometimes, these contracts may be verbal and unformalized. If a dispute arises regarding one of these verbal contracts, it may not be enforceable under the Statute of Frauds. Peter Mavrick is a Fort Lauderdale business litigation attorney. Peter Mavrick is a Fort…
Continue reading ›If you are in a business dispute involving several persons acting in concert with one another, you could have a claim for civil conspiracy. The “gist of a civil conspiracy [claim] is not the conspiracy itself, but the underlying civil wrong” that is the focus or purpose of the conspiracy. Tejera v. Lincoln Lending Servs.,…
Continue reading ›Florida law provides a mechanism to forcibly dissolve corporations if that corporation is paralyzed by internal disputes between shareholders or board members. The mechanism can provide some frustrated shareholders an option to rid themselves of the asset and move on. Peter Mavrick is a Miami business litigation attorney, and represents clients in Fort Lauderdale, Boca…
Continue reading ›Non-compete agreements have been a standard business practice for many years. Businesses use non-compete agreements to protect their interests like proprietary business information, trade secrets, customer, goodwill, staff, and others. However, on April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) upended this long-standing business practice by issuing a rule banning most non-compete agreements. See 16…
Continue reading ›You should protect your trade secrets at all lawful costs. But sometimes, trade secrets are stolen and misappropriated despite your best efforts to protect them. This article discusses some of the remedies available when trade secrets are stolen and the duration you can obtain those remedies in the future. Peter Mavrick is a Fort Lauderdale…
Continue reading ›
