Will Massachusetts join 46 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands in adopting the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (the “UTSA”)? In January 2013, the Massachusetts Legislature proposed House Bill No. 27: An Act Making Uniform the Law Regarding Trade Secrets. The bill seeks to repeal Sections 42 and 42A of chapter 93 of… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Massachusetts
Massachusetts Legislators Introduce “Noncompete Agreement Duration Act”
Posted in LegislationBy Erik Weibust and Ryan Malloy Massachusetts has entered a new chapter in a long-standing effort to enact comprehensive non-compete reform in the Commonwealth. Recall from these previous posts that Senator Will Brownsberger and Representative Lori Ehrlich each introduced competing non-compete legislation in 2008 — Brownsberger’s would have gone the way of California and a… Continue Reading
Massachusetts Court Rules That Facebook Posting of New Job Does Not Violate Non-Competition Covenant
Posted in Non-Compete Enforceability, Practice & Procedure, Restrictive Covenants, Trade SecretsA hair salon’s motion for entry of a preliminary injunction against a stylist was denied even though she had signed non-competition, non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements with the salon, and immediately after leaving her prior employment she was employed by a nearby competitor, a fact noted on her Facebook page. Invidia LLC v Difonzo, Case No…. Continue Reading
Trade Secrets and Non-Compete Legislative Update Webinar On September 20, 2012
Posted in Legislation, Non-Compete Enforceability, Practice & Procedure, Trade SecretsPlease join us for our sixth trade secrets webinar of the year entitled Trade Secrets and Non-Compete Legislative Update. The webinar will be September 20, 2012 from noon to 1:00 p.m. central. The past year has seen significant statutory changes to several jurisdictions’ laws regarding trade secrets and restrictive covenants and pending legislation proposed in… Continue Reading
Massachusetts Federal Court Rejects Expansive View of Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine and Denies Preliminary Injunction
Posted in Non-Compete Enforceability, Trade SecretsOn June 19, 2012, a Massachusetts federal court declined to apply an expansive interpretation of the inevitable disclosure doctrine during a preliminary injunction ruling, finding that the rule is best applied to establish irreparable injury supporting enforcement of a non-competition agreement and not as the basis for a future misappropriation of trade secrets claim. In U.S…. Continue Reading
Massachusetts Appeals Court Affirms Judgment in Breach of Confidentiality Agreement and Unfair Business Practices Action Involving Weapon Designer
Posted in Trade Secrets, Unfair CompetitionBy Erik Weibust and Ryan Malloy In Troy Industries, Inc. v. Samson Manufacturing Corporation and Scott A. Samson, 81 Mass. App. Ct. 1122 (March 21, 2012), the Massachusetts Appeals Court recently affirmed a jury verdict in the Superior Court that awarded damages to the plaintiff, Troy Industries, Inc., based on the defendants’ violation of a confidentiality… Continue Reading
Idaho and New Hampshire Propose Significant Trade Secret and Non-Compete Legislation
Posted in Non-Compete Enforceability, Restrictive Covenants, Trade SecretsRecently, state legislatures in both Idaho and New Hampshire have proposed significant legislation relating to trade secret and non-compete agreements. Each of these bills has the potential to significantly impact employers and their hiring processes. Idaho In the Idaho state senate, a bill was recently introduced to amend the Idaho Trade Secrets Act. The proposed bill… Continue Reading
Massachusetts Court Finds IT Consultant’s Non-Compete Agreement Unenforceable Due to “Material Change” in Employment Relationship
Posted in Non-Compete EnforceabilityBy Kate Perrelli, Erik Weibust, and Ryan Malloy In Grace Hunt IT Solutions, LLC v. SIS Software, LLC, et al., Judge Lauriat of the Business Litigation Session of the Massachusetts Superior Court recently held that an IT consulting firm could not enforce non-compete agreements against employees who left after the company decreased their base salaries and implemented… Continue Reading
Massachusetts Judge Finds Statutory Trade Secrets Misappropriation, Despite Contrary Jury Verdict in Parallel Common Law Action, and Awards Plaintiff Draconian Injunctive Relief and Millions of Dollars in Damages, Fees and Costs
Posted in Trade SecretsBy Paul Freehling When the evidence of trade secret misappropriation and resulting substantial damages is compelling, defendants should expect to get hammered in court. A recent Massachusetts case is in point. There, despite a jury verdict for the defendants, the trial court entered judgment for the plaintiff which included a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendants from using… Continue Reading
Massachusetts Legislature Hears Testimony on Non-Compete Bill
Posted in Non-Compete EnforceabilityBy Kate Perrelli, Erik Weibust, and Ryan Malloy On September 15, 2011, the Massachusetts legislature’s Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development heard testimony on House Bill 2293. The bill, originally introduced in 2009 as House Bill 1799, and as previously blogged on here, here, and here, aims to codify Massachusetts common law pertaining to non-compete agreements and… Continue Reading
Massachusetts Legislature Considers Revised Non-Compete Bill
Posted in Trade SecretsOn January 20, 2011, Massachusetts State Representatives Lori Ehrlich, William Brownsberger, and Alice Hanlong Peisch re-filed the Massachusetts non-compete bill, aptly entitled “An Act Relative to Noncompetition Agreements.” The bill was originally submitted in late 2009 as House No. 1799, and since that time has undergone significant review, comment, and revision. While much of the… Continue Reading
Massachusetts Is Not California; At Least Not Yet!
Posted in Non-Compete EnforceabilityBy Kate Perrelli and Erik Weibust On October 7, 2009, the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development held a hearing on a non-compete bill, House No. 1799, sponsored by Representatives Will Brownsberger and Lori Ehrlich. Representatives Brownsberger and Ehrlich had each previously sponsored their own independent bills – Brownsberger’s based on California’s statute… Continue Reading
Is Banning Non-Competes the Answer for Massachusetts?
Posted in Non-Compete EnforceabilityKatherine (Kate) Perrelli (a Seyfarth Shaw partner in Boston) recently published an op-ed, “Is Banning Non-Competes the Answer for Massachusetts?” in the September 21, 2009 issue of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. In her article, Kate discusses two bills addressing non-competition agreements that are currently pending in the Massachusetts legislature; one bill would enforce reasonably tailored non-competes, while the other… Continue Reading
The Debate Regarding Non-Compete Provisions Heats Up in Massachusetts
Posted in Non-Compete EnforceabilityThe Massachusetts House of Representatives has before it two competing bills relating to non-competition clauses to consider this Spring. Representative Lori Erlich has sponsored House Bill No. 1799, which sets forth the standards by which a non-compete provision could be measured for enforceability. The proposed statute includes (i) a ban on non-competes all together for any employee… Continue Reading
Prohibition on attorney non-competition agreements protects clients, not attorneys
Posted in Non-Compete EnforceabilityMassachusetts Rule of Professional Conduct 5.6 prohibits non-competition agreements for attorneys, and provides in part: “A lawyer shall not participate in offering or making . . . a partnership or employment agreement that restricts the right of a lawyer to practice after termination of the relationship, except an agreement concerning benefits upon retirement. . …. Continue Reading