In a turn of events that should surprise no one, the bro-ed out start-up WeWork has caught heat for abusing employee non-compete agreements. That’s right. While holding itself as new wave, disruptive, and collaborative, WeWork has simultaneously required every single one of its 7,500 employees to sign an agreement containing a non-compete provision. This includes … Continue reading
It’s August of 2018 and non-compete agreements are still rampant in American markets. Not surprisingly, non-compete litigation remains big business for management-side lawyers, particularly at large corporate firms. But there are cracks in the armor. More and more states are contemplating severe restrictions on the use of non-compete agreements, if not outright bans. And several … Continue reading
Question: When two members of a privately held LLC get together and conspire to wrongfully expel the third member, what is the worst possible course of action they can take? Answer: Insist that the wrongfully expelled member is STILL a member and is bound by a non-compete, then litigate the matter until the bitter end. … Continue reading
To sum up the latest chapter of the Waymo v. Uber trade secret litigation: Waymo basically embarrasses itself. Uber pretty much wins. Let’s take a look: Waymo / Uber Background Waymo is a technology company focused on self-driving cars. It’s a Google spin-off. Uber is, well, Uber. Anthony Levandowski (“AL”) was one of Waymo’s star engineers. … Continue reading
A recent case out of the Southern District of Florida provides important guidance into the limits of non-compete agreements under Florida law. The case is one of the most comprehensive Florida non-compete decisions of the past several years, whether in state or federal court. Let’s take a look: IDMWorks is a company that specializes in … Continue reading
Last week, the Wall Street Journal ran a story about non-compete agreements making it difficult for younger journalists to get new jobs and move up in the news world. The article focused substantially on a young journalist named Stephanie Russell-Kraft who moved from Law360 to Thomson Reuters. Shortly after beginning work at Thomson Reuters, her … Continue reading