shutterstock_139796827Christopher Pike: “That’s a technicality.”

Spock: “I am a [lawyer], sir. We embrace technicalities.”

Star Trek Into Darkness

Arbitration is no longer the final frontier. Instead, arbitration is often the first and only forum for resolving disputes. The business community has embraced arbitration as an alternative method of dispute resolution, but sophisticated parties still maintain a preference favoring court resolution
Continue Reading Effective Carve-Outs to Seek Injunctive Relief from the Court in Arbitration Provisions

By Christina F. Jackson

In a case out of Florida involving the rapper known as “50 Cent” an arbitrator found the rapper liable for trade secret misappropriation, among other claims, in the creation of his own line of headphones. The arbitrator awarded, the plaintiff in the case, Sleek Audio, LLC, a little over $11.5 million in damages. Attorney’s fees were
Continue Reading $16 Million Awarded By Arbitrator Against 50 Cent in Trade Secret Spat

Notwithstanding a forum-selection provision in the parties’ consulting agreement designating the Northern District of Georgia as the place for litigating non-competition and non-solicitation covenants disputes, a Georgia federal judge transferred covenant violation litigation to the Middle District of Florida. Also, the judge explained why he thought that an arbitration clause was unenforceable, but he said that the Florida court should
Continue Reading Georgia Federal Court Disregards Forum Selection Clause In Non-Compete And Non-Solicitation Covenant Dispute

Summary:  Tatum, an employee of ProBuild, purportedly blew the whistle on her subordinate for allegedly stealing from ProBuild.  Shortly thereafter, she was fired, but alleged similarly situated male employees were not.  She filed a gender discrimination suit in a New Mexico state court. ProBuild removed the case to federal court and then moved to compel arbitration based on the mandatory
Continue Reading Employment Agreement Mandating Arbitration With Exclusion To Seek Equitable Relief From Court For Non-Compete Violations Found Unconscionable

A federal district court in the Northern District of California recently found that a non-signatory to an arbitration agreement may enforce that agreement against a signatory and compel arbitration under the doctrine of equitable estoppel.

Semin, a software developer, worked for Torbit, Inc. He signed an employment agreement containing a proprietary information non-disclosure provision, and a commitment not to compete
Continue Reading California Federal Court Allows Non-Signatory to Arbitration Agreement to Compel Arbitration in Trade Secrets Dispute

By Robert Milligan and Grace Chuchla

Arbitration agreements with carve-outs for provisional remedies are again the topic du jour, particularly in California courts which apply a stringent unconscionability analysis to employee arbitration agreements.

As we previously discussed on this blog, in October 2012, a federal district court for the Eastern District of California upheld an arbitration agreement even though it
Continue Reading California Appellate Decision Clarifies Standard for Injunctive Relief Carve-Outs Within California Arbitration Agreements

By Robert Milligan and Grace Chuchla

There are not many issues that the United States Supreme Court can unanimously resolve in five short pages.

The preeminence of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) is apparently one such issue, as the Supreme Court recently illustrated in its November 26 per curium opinion in Nitro-Lift Technologies LLC v. Howard, 568 U.S. __
Continue Reading US Supreme Court Strikes Down Oklahoma Supreme Court Decision And Holds That Arbitrator, Rather Than Court, Must Determine the Enforceability of Non-Compete Agreements Containing Arbitration Provisions

By Rebecca Woods

The Oklahoma Supreme Court recenty held that noncompete agreements are reviewable by a court, even if the agreement contains an arbitration clause and there is no claim as to the validity or enforceability of the arbitration clause. The Howard ruling is consistent with prior rulings by the court that evidence a hostility to the U.S. Supreme Court’s
Continue Reading Oklahoma Supreme Court Nixes Overly Broad Non-Compete Agreement

By Rina Wang, summer associate, and Timothy B. Nelson

The California Court of Appeal recently addressed the issue of the interpretation of arbitration clauses in the context of claims for misappropriation of trade secrets in the case of Valentine Capital Asset Management, Inc. v. Agahi, 174 Cal.App.4th 606 (1st Dist. 2009).

In Valentine, respondent John Valentine was the founder

Continue Reading FINRA Arbitration Clause Did Not Apply to Trade Secret Misappropriation Claims

In Global Link Logistics, Inc. v. Briles, No. A08A1871, (Ga. App. Feb. 18, 2009), the Georgia Court of Appeals recently reiterated Georgia court’s requirements for non-compete and non-disclosure covenants. The case involved the departure of Jim Briles from Global Link Logistics to a competitor. Briles moved for a declaratory judgment stating that the restrictive covenants in his employment agreement &ndash

Continue Reading Georgia Court of Appeals Repeats Requirements for Non-compete and Non-disclosure Covenants