Articles Posted in Business Litigation

An undefined term in a non-compete agreement creates an ambiguity in the contract, and therefore uncertainty in a court’s interpretation of the term. When a term is left undefined, Florida law requires courts to give the term its ordinary meaning. Although the terms “compete” and “line of business” may seem self-explanatory, the context in which…

For a business to be to protect its confidential information as a protectable trade secrets under the Florida Uniform Trade Secret Act, the business must preserve the secrecy of its confidential information. There are no hard and fast rules that must be followed for a business to protect its confidential information as a trade secret.…

It is a fundamental premise that ownership of a corporation is evidenced by stock certificates. However, this is not always the case with small, closely held corporations that do not sell stock on a market. Sometimes those corporations do not issue certificates. To accommodate that realty, Florida law allows for the equitable or beneficial ownership…

Protection of trade secrets and proprietary information from a business’ competitors can be a critical part of owning a company. An injunction may become necessary to stop a competing company from possessing or using those trade secrets for their own benefit. The injunction, however, must be specific enough for the enjoined party to understand what…

It is common in lawsuits regarding non-compete agreements for plaintiffs to sue the new enterprise started by the former employee or the company that hires the former employee, i.e. a third party. Plaintiffs seek to enjoin these third parties from aiding and abetting the violation of the non-compete, as well as, hold them liable for…

Businesses often prefer to resolve their disputes by arbitration rather than litigation. When two parties who have entered into an agreement to arbitrate their disputes, that agreement to arbitrate is usually enforceable by either party. Frequently, one party may renege on its agreement to arbitrate for strategic reasons and attempt to avoid arbitrating the dispute…

Plaintiffs in litigation often allege as many types of claims as are applicable to the facts of their case. This practice essentially allows a party to plead alternative claims for different types of relief based on the same nucleus of facts. Under Florida law, a trade secret claim may preempt, i.e. supersede or displace, pleading…

Section 542.335(1)(d), Florida Statutes, states that a non-compete agreement, in an employment context that exceeds two years is subject to a legal presumption that the non-compete period is unreasonable. An employer may overcome this legal presumption in variety of ways. If the court finds that a longer non-compete period is necessary to protect a legitimate…

Many businesses create new business concepts. A business concept, however, does not automatically evolve from an interesting idea to a legally protected trade secret. A concept doesn’t need to be built to be protected, but the concept needs enough substance to be economically valuable and for a court to know what it’s protecting. Peter Mavrick…

It is not uncommon for parties in a business relationship, such as partners, franchisors and franchisees, and employers and employees, to discover that they cannot agree on their rights with respect to each other. Sometimes contracts are ambiguous, or the parties never determined how they would address a particular problem that later arises. Florida law…