Standing is a legal concept requiring the litigant bringing the lawsuit to have a sufficient stake in the outcome of the controversy that enables the litigant to judicially resolve the controversy. Jamlynn Invs. Corp. v. San Marco Residences of Marco Condo. Ass’n, 544 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989).…
“Florida law … contains a comprehensive framework for analyzing, evaluating and enforcing restrictive covenants contained in employment contracts.” Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Alfieri, 23 F. 4th 1282, 1291 (11th Cir. 2022) (quotation and citation omitted). This framework includes a burden shifting approach between the restrictive covenant’s enforcer and enforcee that…
In the absence of a non-compete agreement, Florida law prohibits tortious interference with certain business relationships. The Supreme Court of Florida, in Tamiami Trail Tours, Inc. v. Cotton, 463 So.2d 1126 (Fla. 1985), explained that the elements of a claim for tortious interference with a business relationship are “(1) the…
Under Florida law, a trade secret means information not commonly known by or available to the public, which derives economic value from not being generally known to or ascertainable by proper means by others who can obtain economic value from the information, and that was subject to reasonable efforts to…
Federal courts distinguish between “direct” and “indirect” claims of trade secret misappropriation. The United States District Court for the Northern District of California, in Heller v. Cepia, L.L.C., 2012 WL 13572 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 4, 2012), explained that the difference depends on whether a plaintiff alleges the defendant obtained the…
Not all contractual breaches are treated equally. Some breaches are material, while other breaches are not. Materiality matters because a material breach relieves the non-breaching party of his or her duties to perform under the contract. JF & LN, LLC v. Royal Oldsmobile-GMC Trucks Co., 292 So. 3d 500 (Fla.…
Florida’s broad homestead protection laws are enshrined in Florida’s Constitution. They offer unique asset protection most states do not, and prevent most creditors from levying against a debtor’s home so long as that home qualifies as a homestead. Peter Mavrick is a Miami business litigation attorney, and represents clients in…
Florida law protects employers and similarly situated persons from unlawful competition. But every competitive act does not qualify as an unlawful competitive act. White v. Mederi Caretenders Visiting Services of Se. Florida, LLC, 226 So. 3d 774 (Fla. 2017) (“Section 542.335 does not protect covenants ‘whose sole purpose is to…
We previously wrote about two potential laws that might limit enforceability of non-compete agreements. The first law is a proposed Florida statute that would constrain or prohibit restrictive covenants for certain medical professionals. The second law is a Federal Trade Commission rule that would ban most non-compete agreements as unfair…
The business judgment rule is a critical feature of the law governing corporations throughout the United States. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in In re Bal Harbour Club, Inc., 316 F.3d 1192 (11th Cir. 2003), explained that “[t]he business judgment rule is a judicial presumption…