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On September 1, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that furthers the state’s protections for employee mobility and seeks to void out of state employee non-compete agreements. Specifically, the new law provides that any contract that is void under California law is unenforceable regardless of where and when the employee signed the contract.

Under existing California law, non-compete agreements…

Continue Reading New California Non-Compete Law Furthers the State’s Employee Mobility Protections and Seeks to Void Out of State Employee Non-Compete Agreements
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The D.C. Circuit recently held that a “Mutual Non-Disparagement” clause requiring an employer to “direct” its employees not to disparage a former employee could reasonably be interpreted as prohibiting the employer itself from making disparaging statements.

In Wright v. Eugene & Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, Dr. Terri Wright, a former employee of the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation (the “Foundation”), filed suit against the Foundation after discovering its CEO, Nicola Goren, had made disparaging statements about her.

The Foundation hired Wright in early February 2018 as its Vice President of Program and Community.  During Wright’s tenure, Goren criticized her “interpersonal skills” and identified “communication issues.” In October 2019, Goren fired Wright, citing the same concerns.  Wright believed these alleged issues were pretextual, but to attempt to avoid litigation, she entered into a Severance Agreement with the Foundation. The Severance Agreement contained a provision titled “Mutual Non-Disparagement” that read as follows:

You agree that you have not made, and will not make, any false, disparaging or derogatory statements to any person or entity, including any media outlet, industry group or financial institution, regarding the Foundation or any of the other Releasees, or about the Foundation’s business affairs and/or financial conditions; provided, however, that nothing herein prevents you from making truthful disclosures to any governmental entity or in any litigation or arbitration. Likewise, the Foundation will direct those officers, directors, and employees with direct knowledge of this revised letter agreement not to make any false, disparaging or derogatory statements to any person or entity regarding you; provided, however, that nothing herein prevents such individuals from making truthful disclosures to any governmental entity in litigation or arbitration.…

Continue Reading D.C. Circuit Holds Contractual Clause Directing Non-Disparagement Implies Employer Itself Cannot Disparage

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Establishing jurisdiction over a defendant is critical in every lawsuit. Trade secret cases are certainly no different.  A recent appellate decision from Texas underscored this important point by dismissing a plaintiff’s claim against a defendant – who did not even deny that he received misappropriated trade secrets – for lack of jurisdiction.

The case is Joe Formicola v. Virtual Integrated…

Continue Reading Texas Court of Appeals Dismisses Trade Secret Case Against Defendant for Lack of Personal Jurisdictional

In the third installment of our 2022 Trade Secrets Webinar Series, Seyfarth attorneys Justin Beyer and Ian Long discussed employee mobility and its impact on trade secrets and non-compete agreements, and shared practical steps that companies can take to protect intellectual capital in today’s market.

As a follow up to this webinar, our team wanted to highlight:

• Protecting…
Continue Reading Webinar Recap! Employee Mobility and Its Effects on Trade Secrets and Non-Competes

In the second annual installment of Seyfarth Shaw’s Commercial Litigation Outlook, our nationally-recognized team provides keen insights about what to expect in 2022. It will be a busy year that will call upon clients and their counsel to be flexible, creative, and proactive on many fronts.

As the pandemic morphs into an endemic, we are seeing overall litigation activity…
Continue Reading Upcoming Webinar Series! Commercial Litigation Outlook: Insights and Predictions for Litigation Trends in 2022

This blog post is the author’s opinion and is for educational and informational purposes only. It provides general information and a general understanding of the law, but does not provide specific legal advice. Please feel free to reach out to a Seyfarth Trade Secrets attorney if you’d like to discuss your particular situation.

I recently wrapped up a series of hard-fought cases centering around restrictive covenant violations and trade secret misappropriation. In the draw-down that follows, I always find it helpful to take some time to reflect on lessons learned—both for my client and for improving my approach in subsequent cases.

In future cases, I’m going to take a harder look at whether to ask for a jury trial in a standard employee departure case when I represent the plaintiff. When you represent the plaintiff, the natural tendency is to want a jury. The standard misappropriation story can be gripping and morally intuitive; the normal citizen has a general sense that a person should adhere to agreements they made and should not steal property or propriety information. Doubly so when the departing employee has taken steps to mislead the employer about their future activities.
Continue Reading Do You Want a Jury Trial in a Trade Secrets or Non-Compete Case?

On Friday, June 11, Seyfarth partner and co-chair of the Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud & Non-Competes practice group Robert Milligan is presenting the “Remote Trials and ADR” panel at The 2021 Sedona Conference on Remote Case Management of IP Proceedings, which is being held virtually June 10 and June 11. Other panels at the conference include:

  • Remote Conferences, Motions, Ex

…
Continue Reading Robert Milligan to Present at The 2021 Sedona Conference on Remote Case Management of IP Proceedings

Thursday, April 1, 2021
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Central
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Mountain
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific

Establishing a process, checklist, or set of best practices for employee termination and data repatriation is essential, especially in a remote work environment. Depending on the remote work policy, including whether there…
Continue Reading Upcoming Webinar! Employee Termination & Data Repatriation in the Remote Work Environment

Los Angeles partner Robert Milligan and counsel Darren Dummit will present an online CLE webinar for Strafford on October 15, 2020 at 10 a.m. pacific for business counsel to provide guidance regarding legal concerns in negotiating termination and suspension provisions contained in commercial contracts drafted in a pre-pandemic world, as well as the considerations for such provisions in the post-pandemic…
Continue Reading Robert Milligan and Darren Dummit Present For Strafford Concerning Structuring Termination Clauses in Commercial Contracts: Force Majeure, Impossibility, and Frustration of Purpose

On Thursday, August 20 at 3-5 p.m. Eastern, Robert Milligan is presenting “How to Manage and resolve Complex Commercial Disputes: A Practice Guide” for The Knowledge Group. Speakers on the panel will discuss the use of process maps in identifying breakdowns, current settlement dynamics, and economic loss quantification.

Robert is presenting Segment 3 of the webinar and is focusing on:…
Continue Reading Robert Milligan Presenting Webinar on How to Manage and Resolve Complex Commercial Disputes