Earlier this year, the White House and Treasury issued reports criticizing the widespread use of non-compete agreements. They found that such agreements affect nearly one in five U.S. workers, or approximately 30 million people. Last week the White House expanded its efforts, issuing a Call to Action for states to reform and limit non-compete agreements, … Continue Reading
When it comes to the principle of freedom to enter into contracts, “freedom’s just another word” for “as long as you don’t bump up against a more important legal principle.” Indeed, the “freedom of contract is a qualified and not an absolute right.” Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R.R. Co. v. McGuire, 219 U.S. 549, 567 … Continue Reading
If metadata can be such important evidence, Part II and Part III, you’re probably wondering: Hasn’t someone figured out a way to destroy it? The answer is that there are products designed to do just that – and the company or person who uses them is paving their own road to sanctions. As an employer, … Continue Reading
In Part II, I described how you can use metadata to shield yourself from allegations of misappropriation of trade secrets or spoliation. But enough about defense – what about playing offense? What about when you need to establish that an employee or competitor has stolen your stuff? Here again, metadata may be your friend. Metadata … Continue Reading
Part I of this series explained the most common types of metadata and what they can tell you. This post describes how employers should handle metadata to protect from claims of misappropriating the trade secrets or proprietary information of another company. Consider these three scenarios: A new employee brings a thumb drive from his former employer. Do … Continue Reading
Consider the following sample non-compete provision in an employment agreement for a salesperson: Employee agrees not to work as a salesperson for any company that competes with Employer for a period of two years following Employee’s separation from employment in the following regions: Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia. Geographically overbroad? Could be. Too … Continue Reading
Litigation about trade secrets and noncompetes / nonsolicitations frequently involves questions about electronically stored information, like: When was the file created? On what device was it created? When was it edited? When was it last accessed? When was it transferred from one device to another? These questions are not about the content of the files; … Continue Reading
Integration clauses are common boilerplate in employee separation agreements. These clauses, sometimes also referred to as “merger clauses,” set forth the parties’ understanding that their entire agreement is set forth within the four corners of the document they’ve signed. If properly drafted, an integration clause helps nip in the bud a future claim arising from … Continue Reading
