Well-drafted employee and third-party contractual restrictions are essential for companies to secure and protect trade secrets and confidential and proprietary business information like customer lists and technology. We draft employment, stand-alone, and other agreements containing non-compete provisions, non-disclosure provisions, non-solicitation and anti-raiding provisions, and intellectual property protection provisions. We also counsel clients who want current employees to sign post-employment restrictive covenants.
Even if the employee is not contractually bound to keep your trade secrets confidential, the duty may be imposed by law through the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act or a state’s trade secret act. And if what you thought was a trade secret is not, the information may still be legally protected if proprietary and guarded. Our lawyers will sort through the issues and work to protect your assets.
An employee’s breach of a restrictive covenant may lead to the employer’s loss of customers, employees, and valuable assets and trigger a highly-charged reaction. We evaluate the legal issues, available remedies, and probable outcomes along the risk-reward spectrum and in the context of the client’s business so the client can decide on the best course of action. Our lawyers have years of experience filing for injunctive relief, advocating before arbitrators and mediators, litigating in state and federal courts across the country, and negotiating settlements. When appropriate, we also assert claims against the new employer for tortious interference with contract, unfair competition, and other claims to recover compensatory and punitive damages.
Our lawyers represent clients asserting their rights to recoup monies advanced to current or former employees who fail to repay. We do so through swift arbitrations or court actions or through negotiations. We also draft the terms of promissory notes for employer clients.
