Articles Posted in Business Law

Under Florida law, enforcement of a non-compete agreement requires requires proof of at least one “legitimate business interest.” Fla. Stat. § 542.335 (“The person seeking enforcement of a restrictive covenant shall plead and prove the existence of one or more legitimate business interests justifying the restrictive covenant.”). A failure to plead or prove the existence…

Liquidated damages are determinable with exactness from the cause of action as pleaded by a mathematical calculation or by application of a rule of law. Boulos v. Yung Sheng Xiamen Yong Chem. Indus. Co., 855 So.2d 665 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003). Many contracts contain a liquidated damage provision that attempts to ascribe an automatic amount…

A trade secret plaintiff usually will consider potential damages to be recovered from the defendant, and how you will present evidence to a jury establishing those damages. This aspect of a trade secret lawsuit is not always straight-forward because a trade secret plaintiff is entitled to different damage categories depending on the facts and circumstances…

A party seeking to enforce a restrictive covenant must plead and prove the existence of one or more legitimate business interests. Fla. Stat. § 542.335. The proponent typically claims to have a legitimate business interest in its trade secrets, valuable confidential information that otherwise does not qualify as a trade secret, substantial relationships with specific…

Standing is a legal concept requiring the litigant bringing the lawsuit to have a sufficient stake in the outcome of the controversy that enables the litigant to judicially resolve the controversy. Jamlynn Invs. Corp. v. San Marco Residences of Marco Condo. Ass’n, 544 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989). The standing concept imposes a…

In business litigation, a business’ customer information can qualify as a trade secret under Florida and Federal law. This trade secret protection extends further than just a business’ list of customers. A business’ cognizable trade secrets can include a different elements of customer information that are compiled in the aggregate and protected by business. The…

Florida businesses that enter into contracts will often place “choice of law” provisions within their contracts. There provisions typically govern which state or country’s laws apply to a given transaction. These clauses are usually enforced by the courts, with some exceptions. While states generally share the same fundamental rules of contract law, the choice of…

Florida businesses may seek rescission of a contract in certain circumstances when the contract was entered into because of fraud, accident, or a mistake of facts. To preserve the legal right to invoke the remedy of rescission, when the basis for rescission is discover must immediately reject any further benefits under the contract and must…

The Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) provides a means for customers to sue a business which deceptively charges additional fees. When a business conducts itself in an unlawful, unfair, or deceptive manner to its own customers, the business’ competitor may also assert a FDUTPA claim for the harm that these practices indirectly…

Another article discusses how a business can lawfully sue a competitor under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) when the competitor issues deceptive charges against its own customers. Several recent cases have explained that whether a charge is unlawfully deceptive is highly dependent on the exact language of the charge. Minor nuances…