Cases don’t try very often. Doubly so in trade secret/non-compete litigation. So many of these disputes get resolved at the injunctive relief phase of the proceeding that, when one goes the distance, it is almost always worth peeking under the hood.

In MWK Recruiting, Inc. v. Jowers, No. 1:18-cv-444-RP (W.D. Tex.), a federal district court judge recently entered a judgment for $3.6 million—before fees and costs—against a former external law firm recruiter. The facts are not complex. A recruiter left his employer and joined a competitor. But before the recruiter left his former employer, he began using his personal email for candidate submissions and allegedly laundered six lateral candidates through the founder of his new employer. His former employer sued him and alleged that he misappropriated trade secrets and breached non-compete and non-solicitation covenants in his employment agreement. At trial, the district judge found in the plaintiff/employer’s favor on both claims and entered a $3.6 million damages award, with about $500,000 awarded under the misappropriation claim and $3 million under the breach of contract claim.Continue Reading Lessons from a Staffing Misappropriation and Non-Compete Trial

In Hallmark Cards Inc. v. Monitor Clipper Partners LLC et al., 2014 WL 3409953 (8th Cir. July 15, 2014), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a $31.3 million dollar jury verdict, which included $10 million in punitive damages, in favor of Hallmark Cards, Inc. (“Hallmark”) against a private equity firm known as Monitor Clipper Partners
Continue Reading Eighth Circuit Affirms $31.1 Million Dollar Jury Verdict in Favor of Hallmark Cards over Private Equity Firm

In a recent ruling, a West Virginia federal judge held that litigation involving a former employee’s claimed violation of covenants not to compete and not to solicit the ex-employer’s workers must proceed to trial even though the ex-employer produced no evidence of monetary loss. Relying on 76-year old and 118-year old West Virginia cases neither of which concern similar
Continue Reading Are Non-Competition And Non-Solicitation Provisions In An Employment Agreement Enforceable Despite The Absence Of Compensable Damages?