Articles Posted in Business Litigation

As a business owner, ensuring that your customer list is adequately protected can often be a challenging task. Employees who have direct access to a customer list can misappropriate that information and use it to compete directly against the business. Fortunately, a business’s customer list may qualify as a trade secret to justify the enforcement…

During discovery opposing parties request the production of relevant evidence and documents to encourage fair judicial proceedings and case settlements. Although the rules of both state and federal civil procedure are broad enough to encompass most discovery requests, not everything that a party requests is discoverable. There are certain objections and privileges that exist to…

Competitive bidding is common for many businesses, including construction companies, supply companies, and retail providers, among others. In most cases, an entity will solicit bids from competing bidders through a request for proposal (RFP) and will award a contract to the most attractive bid, which can depend on several factors. Although competitive bidding can lead…

To have legal recourse for the misappropriation of a trade secret under Florida law, a plaintiff must: (1) prove the existence of a trade secret; (2) prove that it took reasonable measures to protect the trade secret; and (3) demonstrate that the trade secret was misappropriated. See Del Monte Fresh Produce Co. v. Dole Food…

Florida’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act, Fla. Stat. Sections 688.001-688.009 (the “Act”), prohibits the misappropriation of a business’ trade secrets even if the business does not have a non-disclosure or similar agreement with the disclosing party. Misappropriation generally includes the improper possession of, or the disclosure of, a trade secret: “misappropriation” is fully defined in section…

It has become common practice for businesses to include arbitration provisions within agreements. Arbitration provides businesses a more efficient and less costly alternative to expensive, time-consuming litigation. Normally, arbitration provisions are drafted very broadly to cover all disputes or controversies that could arise between the contractual parties, commonly using the wording “arising from” or “relating…

Arbitration proceedings, and their outcomes, are generally not subject to the interference or review of a court. However, Section 682.031 of the Revised Florida Arbitration Code allows courts to issue and review provisional remedies that involve parties to ongoing arbitration proceeding. Provisional remedies can protect an arbitration-party to the same extent that the party would…

A derivative lawsuit is a lawsuit whereby a shareholder of a corporation sues a third party on behalf of the corporation. Any recovery from such lawsuits are the property of the corporation, not the shareholder who brought the lawsuit. Often times, the defendant of a derivative lawsuit will be someone close to the corporation, such…

Today, many businesses are including arbitration provisions for the resolution of any disputes or controversies that may arise from the contract. This is because arbitration provides a more efficient and less costly alternative to litigation. Despite the existence of such arbitration provisions within business contracts, often times, when a dispute arises, a plaintiff will still…

Competitive bidding is common for many businesses, including construction companies, supply companies, and retail providers, among others. In most cases, an entity will solicit bids from competing bidders through a request for proposal (RFP) and will award a contract to the most attractive bid, which can depend on several factors. Although competitive bidding can lead…