Articles Posted in Business Litigation

Business litigation involving claims under Florida’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act (FUTSA) for trade secret misappropriation often also include similar additional claims for tortious interference, fraud, or violations of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA). However, these additional claims rarely survive past the pleading stage because FUTSA prohibits parties from maintaining common law and…

A common issue in contractual disputes is whether the claims can be compelled to arbitration. Arbitration is an alternative method of dispute resolution that parties sometimes agree to through a pre-dispute contract. Many Florida businesses operating online websites often include arbitration provisions in their website’s terms and conditions. These arbitration provisions are enforceable if they…

The “first to breach” or “prior breach” doctrine is a commonly raised defense by employees in actions brought by their former employers to enforce restrictive covenants. Under Florida law, an employer’s prior breach of its employment contract may prohibit the employer from enforcing restrictive covenants under the same agreement. Employees typically raise the “prior breach”…

Non-compete agreements between employers and their employees sometimes contain “forum selection clauses” that dictate where subsequent lawsuits related to the non-compete agreement can be filed. Under Florida and federal law, forum-selection clauses are presumptively valid absent a “strong showing” that enforcement would be unfair or unreasonable under the circumstances. It is important for employers to…

Courts are often tasked with interpreting commercial contracts. Unfortunately, contracts sometimes contain terms that do not clearly convey the intent of the contracting parties. Courts consider these terms as “ambiguous” for purposes of contract interpretation in commercial litigation. Generally, an agreement is ambiguous under Florida law if, as a whole or by its terms and…

A frequently litigated issue in contractual disputes is whether a non-breaching party can recover its alleged consequential damages arising under a contract. Consequential damages, or special damages, may include monetary losses stemming from lost profits. If a party can establish a breach under the contract, then a party may be able to recover its consequential…

Tortious interference claims arise when another business or person unjustly interferes with the business or contractual relationships of another business. However, all interference is not inherently “tortious” under Florida law. For example, certain types of interference may qualify as “privileged” or “justified” when the party acts in its own financial interests and the interference does…

Employees owe their current employers a duty of loyalty under Florida law. This duty of loyalty is a specific fiduciary duty that requires employees to act in the best interest of their current employers. One example of such a breach is where an employee who starts a competing business while still working for the employer.…

A prevalent issue in Florida trade secret litigation is whether an employer adequately protected its trade secrets and confidential information. To qualify for protection under Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“FUTSA”) and the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), an employer must show that it adequately maintained the secrecy of its trade secrets and confidential…

A prevalent issue in business litigation is whether a party’s fraud claims are prohibited by an integration clause in a contract. Contracts typically include integration clauses to prevent contracting parties from later asserting claims based on oral statements that were not also expressed in the contract. Integration clauses or “merger” clauses can therefore effectively limit…