For years I have advised Virginia employees to calm down when it comes down to Trade Secret issues. Well, I hope I haven’t been that passive aggressive in my advice. My intent has always been to provide employees with a simplified understanding of what their legal rights and obligations are regarding their employer’s trade secrets.
Trade Secrets
Good morning from Virginia – where non-competes flourish to the detriment to employees, competition and capitalism. (Fun statement to type, one I believe but is rather controversial). If you would like to spend a few minutes hearing my comments on non-competes in Virginia, and the likelihood of change soon – enjoy the above 11 min
Forgive me, I use hashtags ironically. And this morning, after having read yet another article about the ongoing trade secret litigation between Google and Uber, respectively. This is not a surprising scenario, but as alleged we have the following players: Company 1 (Google) has long term employee (we will call him Bozo) who helps Company 1
I have the pleasure of representing Virginians from all over the Commonwealth. And recently I have seen the following trend: 1. Spouse 1 – works full time, doesn’t have time to hire attorney to review contract. 2. Spouse 2 – concerned and loving, takes the time to find a lawyer, get a fee quote, complete
This month I read a summary of accolades for my home – the Commonwealth of Virginia. Best State for Business (6/50) – Forbes Magazine Top State Business Climate (6/50) Top State for Business (13/50) – CNBC What does all this mean? Well practically speaking, what is a good business climate is – cheap workers, low
If you were an adolescent in the 1990s, there is no doubt you remember some of the classic Hair Club for Men commercials where men would smile while woman rubbed their hands across thick luscious clumps of natural looking hair on a man standing nearby. I recall friends reenacting the adds in middle school and
Just a few days ago my partner Dan and I were discussing the Dept. of Treasury luke warm report on non-compete agreements.. and Dan asked, why are they doing this? It was a fair question. Why is Treasury spending time and money looking into the economic impact of restrictive covenants, and why be so luke
I am seeing a disturbing trend where an ex-employee, who never signed a non-compete agreement with his/her ex-employer, is faced with an attempt by the ex-employer to prevent the ex-employee from competing in the business world. How? By claiming the ex-employee is using “trade secrets” from the previous job to further their career with the
We represent employees is disputes against employers. The cases may involve alleged violations of non-compete contracts, breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of trade secrets, etc. One of the first things we tell new clients is not to destroy or delete existing emails (whether on the employer’s server or the employee’s home or spouses’s computer). The
Our office typically represents employees in business litigation disputes. Yes, we occasionally represent a company but more often than not, we are fighting for an employee who wants to continue work in his or her chosen profession. We do this by evaluating their contracts, the situation and facts, and arguing (when it is appropriate to