Non-Competition and Trade Secret
Representing Current Employers
When trusted employees walk out the door, what are they taking with them? Technical data? Trade secrets? Valuable customer information? If you’re not prepared, former employees can systematically strip your enterprise of its most important assets – from valued customers to intellectual property – and deliver them into the hands of your direct competitors.
Our attorneys are uniquely equipped to help you develop and enforce employment agreements, policies and strategies that provide the maximum possible protection for your valuable customers and information. We have successfully counseled and litigated on behalf of a wide variety of clients, ranging from large, publicly traded companies with multiple offices around the country to small local businesses. We have handled employment and trade secret cases spanning a range of industries, including software and wireless technology, chemicals, insurance and financial brokerage, orthopedic sales, title insurance, food products, and printing, to name a few. And we’ve handled matters in jurisdictions all across the country – experience that is critical, because employment laws vary considerably from state to state.
The best strategy, of course, is to plan ahead to prevent the catastrophic damage that can result from employee defections. We can help you create and implement effective and enforceable non-competition, non-solicitation, and confidentiality agreements. These agreements are essential in the competitive marketplace for human capital, where employee mobility is on the rise and electronic access makes proprietary information more vulnerable to theft than ever.
But planning alone is not enough. Companies must be prepared to act quickly and effectively to enforce employment agreements and protect proprietary trade secrets and confidential business information before lasting damage is done. Because of our extensive experience, we don’t need to “reinvent the wheel” when these matters arise. We can act quickly to seek emergency injunctive relief to prevent losses from occurring.
Representing the Departing Employee and New Employer
With our experience in this area, we also are frequently called upon to represent the departing employee and/or new employer in defense of restrictive covenant claims. Both the employee and the new employer can be exposed to liability. We can help you evaluate and defend against the risk of litigation associated with hiring new employees who might be subject to restrictive employment agreements with their former employers.
Practice Areas
Whether defending or prosecuting trade secret and non-competition claims, our attorneys are well versed in the law that is implicated in federal and state statutory and common law claims. Indeed, we have made significant contributions to the law in the form of published opinions, a testament to our skills and innovation.
Our services include:
Counseling employers regarding effective employment policies designed to inform employees of their duties and obligations, including maintaining confidential information.
Creation of enforceable non-competition, non-solicitation, and confidentiality agreements for key employees and executives.
Evaluating the enforceability of existing agreements on behalf of companies and executives.
Pre-litigation investigation and counseling related to possible trade secret or breach-of-fiduciary-duty claims, including use of computer forensics and other methods to obtain critical evidence.
Offensive and defensive litigation, including prosecuting and defending claims for injunctive relief and damages.
Prosecuting and defending related emergency litigation, including our ability to “parachute” in on rapidly developing matters.
Representative Matters
Major engagements that members of the Group recently have handled include the following:
Successfully prosecuted non-competition and trade secret claims against the former executive of a leading, publicly traded insurance brokerage firm for wrongfully soliciting the firm’s customers and misusing confidential information. After obtaining emergency preliminary injunctive relief, we conducted a full trial during which we utilized sophisticated computer forensics and expert testimony to establish the defendant’s multiple breaches of his Employment Agreement. We ultimately obtained a verdict awarding our client a permanent injunction, a judgment for more than $1.9 million dollars in damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, as well as multiple findings of contempt against the former executive for breach of the injunction.
Obtained a Temporary Restraining Order against former executives of a major wireless technology firm for misappropriating trade secrets and wrongful competition.
Successfully defended an industrial chemicals supplier and its new executives against claims of wrongful solicitation and trade secret misappropriation, obtaining dismissal of the case, including a ruling that a poorly drafted non-compete agreement was unenforceable as written.
Successfully defended and prosecuted numerous non-competition and trade secret related matters for a large, publicly traded orthopedic manufacturer and distributor, across multiple jurisdictions, including conducting a major jury trial and multiple injunction proceedings.
Represented a supplier of software to the insurance industry and a new executive hire against non-compete and trade secret claims brought by a former employer. Obtained denial of a temporary restraining order alleging trade secret misappropriation, leading to a favorable settlement.
Successfully defended a food-ingredient distributor in multi-state litigation proceedings brought by a former employer and competitor.
Successfully defended against temporary restraining orders sought against employees hired after group layoffs at the former employer.
For more information, please contact James Witz who leads the firm's Non-Competition and Trade Secret practice.
