Top Ten Things to Consider When Drafting A Non-Compete Agreement

Many people believe that an employer cannot enforce a non-compete agreement against an employee whom it has fired. But the Pennsylvania Superior Court just weighed in with a new opinion stating that courts must consider factors extending beyond whether and why the employee was fired.

When Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and UBS Financial Services formed the Protocol for Broker Recruiting six years ago, few people expected it to catch on. Today, membership includes almost 550 firms, and RIA's and small and medium-sized broker-dealers are reaping the benefits.

In today's competitive business environment, it is imperative that companies take steps to protect their intellectual property, including trade secrets, customer relationships, proprietary computer software, and business methods. This post summarizes some of the primary types of intellectual property protections available: contracts, trade secrets, copyrights; trademarks; and patents.

Much has been written about Hewlett-Packard’s recently filed case against former CEO Mark Hurd following his acceptance of a job as president of Oracle. Does HP face an uphill battle because California has rejected the inevitable disclosure doctrine?

The debate over whether the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act applies in the context of faithless employees continues, and the fate of RICO claims in this context remains as uncertain as ever.

The purpose of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act is to provide states with model trade secrets legislation. Many states enacting the statute include an underutilized provision requiring it to be interpreted consistently with the manner in which other states interpret the statute.

In several recent noncompete cases, companies have asserted RICO claims against former employees. Is this a growing trend? This post analyzes the anatomy of a RICO claim against former employees in the context of noncompete litigation.