Under Florida law, the rule of judicial estoppel prohibits a litigant from taking a position in a former action or judicial proceeding and then taking an inconsistent position in a subsequent action or judicial proceeding that prejudices the adverse party. Blumberg v. USAA Casualty Insurance Co., 790 So. 2d 1061 (Fla. 2001). The rule is…
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 ›It is important for every business to take extensive efforts to protect their trade secrets and limit their disclosure to persons with subject to comprehensive confidentiality agreements. Often, trade secret misappropriation occurs when a business shares its trade secrets with an outside vendor. This is exactly what a plaintiff claims to have happened in Ecolab,…
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 ›The litigation privilege protects most statements made during the course of litigation in Florida. The litigation privilege has a wide scope and covers many causes of action. The Miami business litigation attorneys of the Mavrick Law Firm represent clients in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and Palm Beach. The Mavrick Law Firm represents businesses and their…
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 ›Under Florida law, the tort of abuse of process involves the use of criminal or civil legal process against another primarily to accomplish a purpose for which it was not designed. Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal in Cline v. Flagler Sales Corp., 207 So.2d 709 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968), discussed the elements abuse of…
Continue reading ›Developments regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) prohibition of non-compete agreements continue. Recently, a court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied a motion for preliminary injunction to prevent enforcement of the ban in ATS Tree Services, LLC v. FTC, Case No. 2:24-CV-01743, 2024 WL 3511630 (E.D. Pa., July 23, 2024). This decision conflicts with…
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